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THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN AND HIS SUITE. 

The stern yet calm face of Japan's ruler is well set forth in the above. It is the face 
of a warrior and a thinker. In the background are typical Japanese officers grouped around 
the imperial standard. 



EXCITING EXPERIENCES 

IN THE 
JAPANESE -RUSSIAN WAR 



By MARSHALL EVERETT, 
The Greatest Descriptive Writer the World has Ever Knovi^n 

INCLUDING 

A Complete History of Japan, Russia, China and Korea. 

Relation of the United States to the Other Nations. 

Cause of the Conflict. 



STARTLING STORIES OF THE WAR AS TOLD BY THE HEROES THEMSELVES. WONDERFUL 
DESCRIPTIONS OF BATTLES THRILLING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES EXCITING STORIES OF 
BRAVERY. SUPERB HEROISM. DARING EXPLOITS VIVID STORIES OF JAPANESE CUNNING. 
HISTORY OF EACH BATTLE TOLD BY BOTH THE JAPANESE AND RUSSIAN COMMANDERS 



ILLUSTRATED WITH 

A Vast Gallery of Photographs of Battle Scenes, War Incidents, 
War Maps and the Leaders on Both Sides. 



THE EDUCATIONAL COMPANY 
CHICAGO 



\^ V 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

JUN 2 1904 

py Copyright Entry 
CLASS /t XXo.Ka 
' tJOPY B 



Copyrig-ht, 1904 

By 

Henry Neil 

All rig-hts reserved. 




THE CZAR ADDRESSING A BODY OF IMPERIAL GUARDS. 

Nicholas II, the Czar of all the Eussias, who is said to have wept bitterly 
when the news of war was brought to him, quickly rallied from his depression, 
and issued a series of manifestoes to his army and navy calling for vengeance 
upon the enemy. (14) 








RUSSIA'S ADVANCE TO THE PACIFIC. 

This series of maps and pictures is designed to illustrate Russia's advance to the 
Pacific, from the time of Vladimir the Great, in the tenth century, to the present. Peter 
the Great, the father of modern Russia, is naturally the chief figure in the portentous 
spread of the black cloud. ;19) 




ENGLISH CREWS GOING ABOARD JAPANESE SHIPS AT GENOA, ITALY. 

Before the war the new Argentine cruisers, Moreno and Rivadavia, were bought by 
Japan, The scene represents the embarkation of a British crew on board the Nisshin, as 
one of them was renamed prior to its departure for Japan on the morning of January 9th, 
just a month before the engagement at Port Arthur. (22) 




RUSSIANS ENCAMPED IN A CHINESE TEMPLK:. 

In their military occupation of Manchuria during the war, the Russian troops respectea 
nothing. They even broke into the Chinese temples and hustled their gods aside to make 
room for their arms and troops. But what could the native do except helplessly protest? '(26) 




TORPEDO ATTACK ON PORT ARTHUR. 

Tu t!ie above are illustrated: (i) the Japanese attack, indicated by arrows; 

11) t.ie torpedo net under water being penetrated by torpedo cutter; (iii) the 

i>rennan torpeao for harbor defense; (iv) the spar torpedo; (v) sections of the 

Whitehead torpedo, used by the Japanese; (vi) explosive head of the Whitehead; 

(vii) modern torpedo tube, in sections, used in Japanese Navy. (33) 




WANCEEING MUSICIANS PLAYING TO JAPANESE BEAUTY. 

In all tlie so-callod lioly cities of Jaiir.ii are fouud wanderiiiji' musicians, bound 
by vows to follow this life of minstrelsy. Tlieir chief instruments are the flute 
and samisen, and they helped to pass away the time of many a Japanese beauty 
whose husband or lover was at the front. (20) 




WARSHIPS ON THEIR LONG VOYAGE TO JAPAN. 

Japan purchased of the Argentine Republic two twin cruisers, christened the Kasuga 
and Nisshin. With British crews aboard, they started from G°,noa, Italy, on the morning 
of January 9, 1904, arriving at Nagasaki in perfect order, a short time after the attack on 
Port Arthur. (S3) 




A SIGNAL TORCH AT A COSSACK POST. 

In the scouting operations of the Cossacks in Manchuria, the country was so broken 
and rugged that it was often difficult for scattered bodies to keep in communication. At 
times they were obliged to fall back upon their ancient way of signaling by means of huge 
torches. 




PUTTING THE. RAILWAY AT DALNY IN GOOD ORDER. 

The Japanese made several attempts to make a landing at Dalny, a few miles north- 
east of Port Arthur, that they might cut the railway at that point. During one attempt 
more than 400 of their number were sabered to death by the Cossack cavalry. This was 
one of the chief strategic points in Manchuria. (18) 




COOLIES AT WORK UPON THE TORT ARTHUR DEFENSES. 

The repeated bonibaidiiients directed liy the Japanese agaiust the defenses of 
Port Arthur served only to stimulate the Russians in their efforts to make them 
impregnable. In this worli the Russian whip and the Chinese cooley played a lead- 
ing part, (36) 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 

Moved by the immensity of the death struggle precipitated by 
Jap and Russ in the far East, its importance to Americans in com- 
mon with the whole world, and the intensity of interest with which the 
v/ar was received, I have undertaken to record a detailed, con- 
nected liistory of this epoch making period. Recogni/.ing the futility 
of attempting to make clear to the reader the unique complications of 
the situation without first familiarizing him with wliat has led up to 
the strife, particular attention has been devoted to the story of the 
past. Thus I have delved deep into the misty story of long ago and 
have borrowed without stint of the v/isdom of learned men of all ages 
v/ho have left to us the priceless lieritage, information concerning the 
development of their forgotten days. 

To these innumerable and unnamed contributors to the treasury of 
human knowledge grateful acknov/ledgement is rendered. Without 
their labors it would be impossible to present an accurate, concise and 
comprehensive statement of the political, economic, traditional and 
diplomatic factors that brought Russian ^and Jap face to face in 
deadly combat on the frozen fields and arctic seas of Korea and Man- 
churia. 

It shall be the aim in this work to not only acquaint the reader with 
the stirring events of this, the greatest of modern wars, and to transport 
him with the marching legions that made history in the Hermit King- 
dom, but to lead him am.ong these contending people in their more 
peaceful moments and acquaint him with their racial characteristics, 
their customs, manners, religion, antecedents, their mode of life past 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 

and present and their conception of the destiny that has driven them 
to arms. 

It was no ordinary quarrel that brought on this frightful carnival 
of suffering, bloodshed, death and destruction. The sword was not 
drawn on the spur of the moment under stress of emotion and un- 
controllable anger. 

Manifest destiny leads Russian ambition eastward. The same potent 
power turns Japan's eyes westward. Somewhere these energetic 
representatives of opposing systems were bound to meet. The col- 
lision came when the first shot was fired at Port Arthur. 

As is the case when two speeding express trains seek to pass on the 
same track, the impact has proven something awful to contemplate 
This record of what actually took place is intended to be an accurate, 
truthful presentation of the developments of the war, free from bias 
or prejudice. If it serves to break down prejudice, to increase love of 
peace, and to illuminate discussion of this grave crisis with the light 
of calm, sound reason, to set in motion a wave of thought that shall 
be productive of a broader and more philosophical view in the office, 
workshop, or at the family fireside, the labor of preparing this work 
shall not have been vain. 

MARSPIALL EVERETT. 



PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 

With the ghastly traces of a monstrous war still fresh upon the land 
and sea, and the shock of battle yet echoing throughout the world from 
the theater of strife where Jap and Russ met to determine which 
should advance and which retreat, this history of the long predicted 
struggle for mastery of the East has been prepared. Viewed day by 
day as the dread tragedy unfolded itself, its ever changing prime 
features have been indelibly traced in word-picture by one familiar 
not only with the subject, but with the unusual and unexpected. 

The civilized world was staggered with the tremendous possibilities 
with which the situation was fraught. Intense perplexity prevails 
as to the "Russian peril" and the "yellow peril." Are civilization 
and progress to receive a setback from which there will be no escape 
for centuries ? Is the peace of the world threatened and are the powers 
of Europe, and perhaps our own country, on the verge of a great strug- 
gle? 

In view of the remarkable situation this publication is particularly 
timely, affording opportunity to the busiest to become familiar with 
this greatest of modern problems without sacrifice of time. At the out- 
break of the war great navies and armies of gigantic proportions were 
marshalled throughout all Europe. Even little Denmark was not free 
from the contagious war fever. England showed an alertness tha^ 
portended aggressive activity. The thought, whither are we drifting, 
was uppermost in the minds of the people of the whole civilized world. 

In the preparation of this work diplomat, military expert, globe trot- 
ter and statesman have all played a part, so that the reader will enjoy; 



PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 

a recital of fact and impression direct from the fountain head — the 
man who has seen, heard and felt the breaking storm. 

That this will prove a compact handbook on the far East and its 
bewildering complications is confidently anticipated. Never before 
has a topic so strange and little understood been thrust upon us so 
suddenly and so laden with fascination. Two civilizations diametri- 
cally opposed in character and purpose have been brought face to 
face in deadly conflict for self-preservation — two religious, economic 
and political systems having nothing in common save a deep seated 
spirit of rivalry have entered the lists to settle by recourse to arms 
the question of survival. 

While the story of mankind is almost an unbroken record of warfare, 
it is only at remote intervals that a struggle ensues which leaves its im- 
print upon the world, changes the course of civilization and makes its 
influence long felt by nations and peoples having no part in the physi- 
cal strife. Such an epoch-making conflict was the war between the 
Slav and the Jap. Wrapped up in it were questions at issue which 
affected not only the teeming millions of the Orient, but the world at 
large, particularly the United States with an empire lying close to 
the theater of war. 

It is with a full appreciation of these grave conditions that this 
work is issued. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE FIRST SHOT OF THE WAR. 

Was It Treachery? The Historic Festival Night. Grim End of Festivities. 
War, the Hell-Born. The Skeleton at the Feast. News Flashed to the 
World 33 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE SECOND SHOT OF THE WAR. 

The Big- Guns Boom. The Circus, Japan's Ally. Scene Disclosed by the 
Blood-Red Moon. Japs Again Attack. Cool in Face of Death. Plucky 
Fighting of Russians. Japanese Spy System 38 

CHAPTER III. 

ECHOES OF THE FIRST SHOT. 

Russian Disaster at Chemulpd. Heroism, of the Russians. Brave Men Cheered. 
Blown Up with Dead on Board — How Russians Were Trapped. Russian 
Transport Accidentally Destroyed — Blunders ! More Blunders! 66 

CHAPTER IV. 

PREPARATIONS FOR LAND BATTLES. 

Russians 300,000 Strong. First 30,000 of 300,000 Japs. Thoughts Turn to 
Dynamite. War's Frightful Cost. Stories of Russian Brutality. Freeze 
and DrowjQ in Arctic Waters. "The Weak Ivink." Treason in the 
Ranks? 74 

CHAPTER V. 

THE CAUSE OF THE WAR. 

Russia's March to the Pacific. War Over the Fruits of War. Hermit Mon- 
arch Has American Wife. The Great Commissary Question. Ivan- 
guage Difficulty 86 



CHAPTER VI. 

NO ROOM FOR BOTH IN KOREA. 

Either Japan or Russia Had to Leave. Russia's Manchuria Promises. Rus- 
sia Threatens Korea. AVhy Japan Defends It ? What Does Russia 
Want of Korea ? 93 



CHAPTER VII. 

NEUTRALITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The President's Proclamation. Warning to the Citizens of the United 
States. Rights of Belligerents. Occupancy of Posts. Rights of Neu- 
trals at Sea. Misconduct at Peril 117 



CHAPTER VIII. 

STORY OF JAPAN AND HER EHPEROR. 

Early Contact with the World. Martyrdom for Missionaries. Terrible 
Slaughter of Christians. First American Visitors. Rough Sea-Dog's 
Diplomatic Victory. Emperor Asserts Himself 124 



CHAPTER IX. 

STORY OF JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE. 

Revelled in Sickening Cruelty. Eost Like Spanish Armada. Gigantic Jap- 
anese Wrestlers. The Eand of Upside-Down. Early Bloody War in 
Korea. The Soldier an Aristocrat 129 



CHAPTER X. 

RUSSIA, THE LAND OF THE GREAT WHITE BEAR. 

Not a Young Giant. Why "Russia?" Christianity Introduced Through 
Royal Marriage. The Ancient Russian Republic. Intrigue and Per- 
petual Warfare. Tartar Rule Broken. Ivan the Terrible 137 



CHAPTER XL 

BIRTH AND PROGRESS OF MODERN RUSSIA. 

Peter the Great. Death of a Romanoff at Conspirators' Hands. Elements 
Prove Deadly Enemy. Russia's Greatest Humiliation. Siege of Sebas- 
topol. Pity the Czar .141 

CHAPTER XII. 

STORY OF THE GRAY OLD HERHIT. 

Soldiers Armed with Arrows. Queerest People on Earth. Frightened at a 
Laugh. Strange Marriage Customs. The Pig Important to the Korean. 
Weird Medical Treatment. Where Wild Beasts Eurk. 10,000 Korean 
Ears as War Spoils 165 

CHAPTER XIII. 
RUSSIA'S FIGHTING POWER. 

The Eastern Gibraltar. Precautions that Failed. A Railroad Conductor Mis- 
taken for the Czar. Russian Officers Bos Sailors' Ears. The Vital 
Connecting Eink. Horror of Eake Baikal Recalled. Compared with 
Santiago Campaign. Soldiers' Diets Compared. Russia's Grim Warrior 
Leaders 177 

CHAPTER XIV. 
TORPEDO WARFARE OF JAPAN. 

Japs Study Torpedo Warfare Closely. Inexpensive Hornet Can Destroy 
Millions. Terrors Suffered by Crew. The Modern Mechanical Fish. 
Close View of the Death Dealers. Cared for Like Hospital Patient. . .209 

CHAPTER XV. 
JAPAN'S NAVAL POWER. 

Ready to Fight Without Pay. What Warships' Names Mean. Poetry in Each. 
Pagan Heroine Honored. Love of Island Home Shown 221 

CHAPTER XVI. 

JAPAN'S LAND FORCES. 

Japanese Leaders Reviewed. Yamagata Had Rapid Rise. Negotiated 
Troublesome Treaty. Swept Chinese Away. How Jap Soldiers are 
Rewarded. All Regarded as Heroes , 229 



CHAPTER XVII. 
RUSSIA'S MIGHTY RAILROAD. 

Stretches Quarter Distance Around the Globe. Figures on Equipment. The 
Secret Chinese Road. Government Was Victimized. Work Started by 
Czar. Strong American Sentiment. Railroad looses Vast Sum 237 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

MIGHTY MEN OF JAPAN. 

The Work of the Magician of the Far East. Sacrifices of Japan's Lords. No 
Similar Event in History. The Passing of Old Traditions. Destiny Fore- 
told. Called the " Bismarck of Japan. " Spencer Would Keep Foreigners 
at Arm's Length 259 

CHAPTER XIX. 

HOW INDIA VIEWS JAPAN. 

Ancient Acquaintance Renewed. Hope of Deliverance Raised. Yearns for 
Federation. Spark of Liberty Still Burns. Suggestion for an Asiatic 
Triple Alliance. Is It Only a Dream ? 269 

CHAPTER XX. 
JAPAN'S YELLOW JOURNALISM. 

A Polite Calldowii. Some Notable Exceptions. Yellow Journalism Flourishes. 
The Newspapers Got the Gold. The Lottery Scheme Strikes In, Sensa- 
tional War News. The Yellowest One of Ail. Press in Darkness 273 

CHAPTER XXI. 
WOMAN'S PART IN THE WAR. 

Expects Her Son to Return Victorious. Faith as Necessary as Air. The Icon 
Smiles Upon You Everywhere. To the War She Gives Family and Jewels. 
Tlie Japanese Wife. Cleanest People on Earth. Worship Pure Air. Wo- 
men Fought to the Death. Refuse to Weep Over Dead Sons 279 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE BRIGHT VIEW OF RUSSIA. 

Commercial and Sentimental Relations. Anglo-Rebel Warships. Son of W. TI. 
Seward Speaks. Russo-American Telegraph Cable Abandoned. Do We 
See Through Colored Glasses ? Shouting Hoarse Over Russia's Hymn. 
Russia Devoid of Snobbishness 307 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

RUSSIA'S MENACING POWER. 

Remarkable Prediction of a French "Writer. Prophecies of a Great Historian. 
A Note of Warning-. Official Relations with Russia. Russia Apparently 
Checkmated. Abolished the Serfdom of the Press 321 

CHAPTEE XXIY. 

RUSSIA'S PROTEST AND JAPAN'S REPLY. 

Is a Formal War Declaration Necessary ? The Chemulpo Attack Fxamined. 
Korea Declared Neutrality. France Upheld Russia's Views. Poor Kor^^a 
Mildly Protests. Japan's Formal Reply to Russia. Refused to Meet Pro- 
posals. Busy Preparing for War. Responsibility with Russia 33 i 

CHAPTEE XXY. 
OUR RELATIONS WITH JAPAN. 

Japanese Admiral and Wife, American Products. Japan Adopts America's 
Cry. United States Refused an Fntang-ling- Alliance. Americans and 
Russians Greatest Japanese Tourists. Explanation of a Polite Japanese 
Spy. America's Friendship in Evidence 357 

CHAPTEE XXYI. 
THE RUSSIANS' ♦« BENEVOLENT ASSIMILATION." 

First Teach Subject Races to Fear Them. An Asiatic Commanding Asiatics. 
First the Sword, Then Sugar. Wounds Quickly Healed. England's Asiatic 
Rule from a Russian Standpoint. Russia's Asiatic Rule from an English 
Standpoint 365 

CHAPTEE XXYII. 

THE STORY OF HANCHURIA. 

Russia's Advance Begins with Her Defeat in Crimean War. March of the 
Great White Bear to the Water. Russia as China's Protector. Man- 
churia Russia's Eand of Promise 371 

CHAPTEE XXYIII. 

HOME OF THE HANCHU DYNASTY. 

The Golden Dynasty Overthrows the Iron. Manchuria's Vast Natural Wealth. 
Senator Beveridge's Account of the Blagovestchensk Massacre. What 
of the Moscow of Asia ? , 377 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

HOW THE WAR NEWS REACHED AHERICA. 

A Journey of Fifteen Thousand Miles. Brave Little Spark Again Under Water. 
Cost of Getting the War News. The Russian Route. Japan and the Amer- 
ican Commercial Pacific Cable 383 

CHAPTER XXX. 

CHINA, ANTIQUITY'S MYSTIC LAND. 

Were the Chinese From the Caspian Sea Region ? Fiery Dogs and Ungoverna- 
ble Vermin. Fabulous Millions of Years. China in the Time of Christ. 
Jenghiz Khan Wipes Out the Golden Dynasty. Early Warfare with Japan 
Over Korea. War Horrors of Flood and Cannibalism .403 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
THE STORY OF MODERN CHINA. 

Dark War Cloud Gathers. Enter England and America. Side Lights on the 
Opium Traffic. The Chinese Worm Turns. Reign of Slaughter Con- 
tinues. Peace at Last. More Strife and Bloodshed. England again 
Makes War. The Historic Gordon on the Scene 409 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
THE PERPLEXING WAR OF 1894=95. 

The Chinese Puzzle Fairly Before the World. China's Real Weakness Exposed. 
Like a Comic Opera Plot. Fellow Conspirator Escapes Death. Interna- 
tional Muddle Begins. Korean Army " Takes to the Woods. " China 
Prepares to Root Out the "Wojen. " The Japs Swarm Over the Great 
Chinese Guns 415 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
THE BOXER UPRISING. 

How the Eyes of the Nations Were Opened. Critics of the Bible and Western 
" Civilization. " " Squeak of the Celestial Pig." Ancestral Worship a 
Contributing Cause. Missionaries Charged with Bewitching Children. 
United States Saves China. Chinese View of Foreign Invasion 421 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
HYSTERIOUS TIBET, THE FORBIDDEN LAND. 

A Land of Wandering Shepherds. Viewed from an English Standpoint. Lofty 
Mountain Ranges and Salt Lakes. One-Third Lamas, Two-Thirds Com- 
mon People. The Lamas Oppose Foreigners. Their Wide-Spread 
Suspicion 429 




JAPAN — "What! NO NOTE TODAY? MY GOODNESS, BUT THAT MAN RUSSIA DOES HATE 

TO ANSWER LETTERS ! " 

Drawn by E. M. Brinkerhofl, of the Toledo Blade. 

The International Mail Carrier passed Japan's door so many days after she had written her 
various notes to Mr. Russia that she come to believe that he was a very poor correspon- 
dent. After pondering and rubbing her chin a moment she delivered herself of this 
impatient remark. Her impatience, as the world knows was soon followed by decisive 
action. 




POOR GAUNT PEACE — "I JUST CAN'T DO ANYTHING MORE WITH THOSE BOYS." 

Drawn by R. M. Brinkerhoff, o? the Toledo Bl.iilo. 

Poor Peace, standing before The Hague Tribunal, is worn to a slcelfton trying to Iceep those 
bad boys, Japan and Russia, from blows, and tinaily has giren upthe task in disgust. 




^^> 



RUSSIA (HOLDING UP THE ORIENTAL)— "IS THERE ANY DOUBT NOW AS TO MY BEING 
THE GREAT ' PtECE-M AKER? '" 

Drawn by R. M. Brinkerhoff, of the Toledo Blade. 

Even after the Czar's appearance in the role of the world's " peace-maker ", there was a doubt in 
the world's mind whether he could stay the hand of his military leaders who, in their deal- 
ings with the Orient, instinctively took the mere tragic part of the " piece-maker. " 




RUSSIA— "WHAT MIGHT HATH JOINED TOGETHER, LET NO MAN PUT ASUNDER. 

Drawn by R. M. Brinkerhoff, of the Toledo Blade. 

The advice uttered by the Great White Bear, who has helpless Manchuria 1° ^^^s ^^o^f ®™^?;^<l®; 
does not deter Japan from running to the assistance of the prisoner. It was no joke, either 



for Manchuria or Japan. 




UNCLE SAM — "I MUST TAKE A FEW PRECAUTIONS, AT LEAST." 

Drawn by Cartoonist Maybell, of the Brooklyn Eagle. 

The breaking out of the war between Russia and Japan was the signal for immediate activity on 

the part of the administration to complete the programme already laid out which should 

make the United States the third naval power in the world. This was Uncle Sam's 

precautionary measure for keeping the fire from his Asiatic roof. 




■ JAPANESE tPPOPS 

a RUSSIAN 

<m RUSSIAN yeaeis 

•«■ JAPANISI 

<=3 BRITISH 



a JAPANCSt TlUOBAPItCWitiK —fTAILWArS 

o RusiiAN fonrs •^aouNOARin [nAnmr 

55 HCADQOARHIIS PflOPOSfO Bl/SSIAH ^^^ 

&&/\/AML DEPOTS -—JAPANlStTUtaiAPII 

fluiiiu reoRiTOnrTMiM btubm 





Outline Map of the Trans-Siberian Railway. 
CHAPTER I. 

THE FIRST SHOT OF THE WAR. 

Was It Treachery?— The Historic Festival Night— Grim End of Festivities— War, 
the Hell-Born— The Skeleton at the Feast— News Flashed to the World. 

'HE roar of the exploding shells that broke the stillness of the 
night in the harbor off Port Arthur on Monday, Feb. 8, 1904, 
will go echoing down the annals of time as the first shots in 
a warfare likely to mark one of the great epochs in human his- 
tory. Moving with the silence of grim specters across the lonely 
deep a flotilla of Japanese torpedo boats approached Russia's mighty 
Gibraltar of the East, crept in close to where the Czar's fleet lay in 
fancied security and scattered death and destruction over the peaceful 
surface of the calm bay. 

The Mikado's bursting messengers of annihilation proved the toc- 
sin that called Russia, the giant, sleeping bear, to arms too late — 
long too late to repair the damage done, the grim array of huge 
guns studding the hills and bristling from the casements of the 
fortified port roared forth defiance to the unbidden and unwelcome 
guest. 

Speedily and with the ghastly silence of its approach the flotilla 
withdrew. In its wake confusion and chaos reigned. Great ships, 
built to withstand the shock and impact of battle, lay pierced and bat- 
tered at their moorings. Decks and quarters were strewn with dead 

33 



34 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

and dying. There was work for the repairer of battleship and fighting 
man. Aye, and for grave digger as well! 

WAS IT TREACHERY? 

War had begun ! The first blow had fallen. It had descended un- 
expectedly at the dead of night with crushing force. The sword, 
half drawn, had been thrust home before the victim had seen it leave 
its scabbard. 

Like the cry of a wounded animal, Russia rushed to arms. Treach- 
ery! Is there such a thing in war? Russia contends there is and 
that it was practiced in that moment when Port Arthur was awakened 
from its festivities to behold the pride of the navy shattered by an 
unexpected foe. 

THE HISTORIC FESTIVAL NIGHT. 

Port Arthur, like all other Russian centers, had dreamed of a war 
that was to come — perhaps. In anticipation of that possibility— or 
probability — its military and social leaders had taken advantage of 
the occasion for a last function before the dread actualities of battle 
might materialize. Bright lights flashed throughout the town. Car- 
riages rattled over its thoroughfares. The dreamy strains of the 
waltz and the martial note of the patriotic anthem echoed through 
the streets. Beautiful women in the height of fashion and brave men 
in the habiliments of social intercourse lent life to the gay scene. 
Wine and laughter, the unbounded hospitality of rich homes and the 
glitter, glamor and noisy joyousness of the circus tent were the order 
of the hour. Naught suggested the war cloud hovering overhead save 
the presence of silent sentinels at their posts and the shrill whistle 
of the night wind cutting through the rigging of the fleet of warships 
lying at anchor in the harbor, each bristling with guns and freighted 
with agencies of destruction. 

GRIM END OF FESTIVITIES. 

It was 1 1 o'clock and the merriment was at its height. Then came 
the awful transition. Torpedoes that seemed to shake the very globe 



THE FIRST SHOT OF THE WAR. 35 

burst forth in uproar and flame. The festive music and the soft mur- 
mur of happy voices died away in circus and ballroom and a mo- 
mentary hush fell. The hideous crash of warfare, the cries of 
wounded and the groans of dying men smote the ear — a chorus of 
terror. As on the eve of Waterloo the booming of cannon blasted the 
dance, so now a sudden sweep of violence terminated the festivities. 
Men in evening dress rushed to the. ramparts to work the guns upon 
whose efficacy depended the honor and stability of Russia. Richly 
gowned women whose gleaming white throats and soft arms glistened 
with jewels made their way unattended to hospitals, where errands 
of mercy called them and grewsome tasks awaited. 

WAR, THE HELL-BORN. 

War had broken its fetters and burst upon the land with hellish 
fury. War, concerning which one great writer has declared "A day of 
battle is a day of harvest for the devil;" than which Martin Luther 
said any plague was preferable ! War, that Sherman called hell, and 
Shakspere the son of hell ! Franklin said there was never a good 
war or a bad peace. The great Wellington contributed to this gen- 
eral depreciation of war the declaration that nothing save a battle lost 
was hardly so melancholy as a battle won. And now this vast game 
of devilish ingenuity and hellish consequences was on in deadly earnest, 
born in the darkness of an Oriental night and destined to be maintained 
through many a day and night to come. 

THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST. 

Musket balls henceforth would claim their uncounted victims, the 
sword and bayonet their harvest of human suffering. Torpedo, shell 
and bomb cast off their restraining fetters to sing their harsh, dis- 
cordant song of death. Potent engines of destruction, designed with 
all the cunning known to man would now have their frightful inning. 
Nature's resistless elements, blinding storms, frigid Arctic winds, track- 
less spreads of ice and snow would at once become man's ally and 
his foe in the struggle at hand. Far from the eyes of the interested 



36 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

world, beyond the realm of romance, where throb of drum and wave 
of flag would awaken neither dream of "glory" or excitement, vast 
armies of men would do and die. Lonely stretches of glary ice and 
\irgin snow would be crimsoned with their life's blood and the shifting 
snowdrift the resting place of their battle-scarred bodies. 

It was indeed a harsh, cruel awakening that the Japanese torpedoes 
forced upon Port Arthur that night, transforming it from a center of 
s@cial gaiety to the besieged hub of a great center experiencing all the 
horrors of relentless war in the dead of an Arctic winter. 

NEWS FLASHED TO THE WORLD. 

Information of what had taken place reached the world the follow- 
ing morning in an official report from Admiral Alexieff. Like the 
early reports that reached England from the theater of war in South 
Africa during the Transvaal campaign it was of the 'T regret to state" 
order. Who can say with what emotion the Russian commander 
penned these lines to his imperial master, thousands of miles away 
and quite unconscious of the outbreak of hostilities : 

"I most respectfully inform your majesty that at or about midnight 
of Feb. 8-9, Japanese torpedo boats made a sudden attack by means 
of mines upon the Russian squadron in the outer roads of the fortress 
of Port Arthur, in which the battleships Retvisan and Cesarevitch and 
the cruiser Pallada were damaged. An inspection is being made to 
ascertain the character of the damage. Details are following for your 
majesty." 

The Russian commander's disastrous report was all too true. Not 
only had the Cesarevitch, pride of the Muscovite navy, and other 
powerful vessels been put out of commission, but before the message 
had left the viceroy's hands and before Port Arthur had recovered 
from the first shock and surprise, the Japanese fleet appeared in force 
and began a terrific onslaught upon the Russian seat of power in the 
far East. Twelve hours after the torpedo attack the Japanese fleets 
were sweeping the seas in pursuit of everything Russian, centering 
their attack upon Port Arthur. The battle that ensued was terrific. 



THE FIRST SHOT OF THE WAR. 



Z7 



The invading fleet was received by the land batteries with a storm 
of shot and shell. The Russian fleet joined in the battle and even the 
warships crippled during the preceding night participated in the 
firing from their moorings on the shelving shores where they had 
been beached to prevent sinking. 




The War Raised the Price of American Products. 




CHAPTER II. 
THE SECOND SHOT OF THE WAR. 

The Big Guns Boom—The Circus, Japan's Ally— Scene Disclosed by the Blood-Red 
Moon— Jap's Again Attack— Cool in Face of Death — Plucky Fighting of Rus- 
sians — Japanese Spy System. 

FFICIAL information of the action was conveyed to the im- 
perial government and the world at large in the following offi- 
cial report from Admiral Alexieff : 

"I beg to report that at about 1 1 o'clock a Japanese squadron con- 
sisting of about fifteen battleships and cruisers approached Port Ar- 
thur and opened fire. 

"The enemy was received with a cannonade from the shore batteries, 
and the guns of our squadron, which weighed anchor and participated 
in the engagement. 

"At about midday the Japanese squadron ceased its fire and left, 
proceeding south. 

"Our losses in the fleet were two naval officers wounded, nine men 
killed, and fifty-one men wounded. 

"On the shore batteries one man was killed and three were w^ounded. 

"The battleship Poltava and the cruisers Diana, Askold, and Novik 
were each damaged on the water line. 

"The forts were slightly damaged. 

"I most humbly report to your imperial majesty that the three 

injured vessels in the torpedo attack were not sunk, nor were their 

boilers or engines damaged. 

38 



THE SECOND SHOT OF THE WAR. 39 

"The Czarevitch received a hole in its steering department and its 
rudder was damaged. 

"The Retvizan was damaged in its pumping apparatus under the 
water line. 

"The Pallada was injured amidships not far from the engines. 
After the explosions the cruisers hastened immediately to their assist- 
ance, and in spite of the dark night, measures were taken to bring the 
damaged vessels to the harbor. 

"We have no loss in officers. Two marines were killed, five were 
drowned, and eight were wounded. The enemy's torpedo boats re- 
ceived a heavy fire. Two unexploded torpedoes were found after 
the attack. ALEXIEFF." 

THE CIRCUS, japan's ALLY. 

As before intimated, Japan's strongest ally in the sudden midnight 
attack on the Russian fleet in the harbor of Port Arthur was a circus. 
While the czar's powerful fleet swung lazily at anchor in fancied se- 
curity the officers of the squadron, almost to a man, were ashore ap- 
plauding the clown in the tan-bark ring and cheering the chariot races 
and the trapeze performers. When the first guns boomed out their 
challenge the officers hurriedly left the canvas tent. Hastening to the 
water front, they found their ships in motion, striving to beat off the 
Japanese war ships that came ever closer. They strove to reach the 
several vessels to which they were assigned, but before they could 
accomplish it they saw two great warships stricken, and a cruiser, the 
pride of the Pacific squadron, sorely damaged. 

Like the British officers who were summoned from a ball to the 
battle of Waterloo, the officers had determined on one last evening of 
pleasure before they entered on the grim business of war. Unlike the 
British, they had no warning, and when they sought to remedy that 
which their thoughtlessness had cost they found it impossible. 

Not alone were the naval officers present at the circus, but the mili- 
tary officers deserted their places at the land batteries to occupy seats 



40 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

beside the ring. The honor of Russia, both by sea and land, was left 
in the hands of subalterns. 

FIRST HALF DAY OF THE WAR. 

The story of the first 12 hours of actual hostilities off Port Arthur 
is graphically described by an eye witness, who was aboard the steamer 
Columbia in the harbor during the entire period, in the following lan- 
guage : 

"I was lying Monday night quarantined on the Indo-Chinese steamer 
Columbia, between the entrance to Port Arthur and the Russian fleet 
and close to the latter. 

"Only one of the Russian warships was using its searchlights, in a 
leisurely fashion, and only three of the torpedo boats were patrolling 
the outskirts of the fleet. It was clear and there was a light southerly 
breeze and a hazy horizon. Then deep silence settled down. 

FIRST MUFFLED EXPLOSION. 

*T was going to bed about 1 1 130 when I heard three distinct but 
muffled explosions one after another. Apparently they came from 
under the water, for the Columbia vibrated violently. 

"Instantly firing with the twelve-pounders and three-pounders began 
and the searchlights were placed, but without much method. 

"I watched the operations, thinking they were only maneuvers, till 
midnight, when the firing had almost ceased, entirely ceasing at 3 in 
the morning. 

"About I o'clock two battleships, probably the Retvizan and Cesarc- 
vitch, and the large cruiser Pallada passed us, coming toward the 
harbor entrance. The battleship then lay across the narrows at the 
entrance, where in the morning both were aground. They were help- 
less, close together, not, however, blocking the entrance except for 
ships of heavy draft. The disabled battleships were taken inside 
forts Huna Ching Shan and Chi Kwan Shan. The cruiser lay outside, 
but within range of the forts. 

"The Retvizan had been torpedoed forward and the Cesarevitch aft. 
The cruiser was badly listed to port. It also was torpedoed. 



THE SECOND SHOT OF THE WAR. 41 

"At 2 40 some Russian naval officers came aboard the Columbia in 
a state of great excitement, saying the viceroy had ordered us not to 
attempt to leave. Their object, apparently, was to prevent us from 
giving any information to the Japanese concerning the extent of the 
damage. 

"Up to this time we thought the operations were only maneuvers or 
a scare. But now we began to suspect something serious, especially 
when at daybreak we saw the strange, pathetic appearance of the 
two torpedoed battleships. We suspected a collision, but soon learned 
these battleships and cruisers were certainly torpedoed. It seemed 
strange, for though the flashlights were whirling wildly and the light- 
house light was novk^ extinct, no firing took place. 

SCENE DISCLOSED BY THE BLOOD-RED MOON. 

"After 3 o'clock the moon rose red, disclosing the presence on the 
horizon of three two-funnel cruisers, on whose masts we afterward 
distinguished the flag of the rising sun— -Japan's. They came boldly 
within long distance range and remained calmly watching for two hours 
after daybreak. 

"A strange apathy seemed to possess the Russian crews of white- 
faced gaping men, who crowded on the forward decks of the damaged 
battleships. 

"I saw through a glass the cook of the Peresviet calmly throwing 
out slops and the men on the other vessels carefully washing the anchor 
chain while weighing anchor. 

"For a long time after the anchor was weighed no vessel showed a 
disposition to chase the Japanese or fire a single shot. 

"Finally the Japanese left. This was at 8 :20. They were pursued 
by the Russian fleet, which proceeded towards Dalny, inshore of the 
Japanese. At 9 :i5 the Russians returned to their anchorage, no firing 
apparently having occurred. 

"The Japanese effected a complete surprise, owing to the bad lookout. 

"The Russians had now outside of the harbor five effective battle- 
ships, five effective cruisers, one volunteer cruiser, one gun vessel, one 



42 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

training ship, and seventeen torpedo boats and destroyers. The latter 
were grouped near the entrance of the harbor. 

JAPS AGAIN ATTACK. 

"It was almost ii o'clock when sixteen Japanese ships, including 
five battleships, appeared along the horizon. They were in fine order. 
At II :i5 came the first fiash from the Japanese vessel. This landed 
a twelve-inch shell near the torpedo boats and disabled a battleship. 
The aim was splendid. 

"Owing to the confusion of the quarantine ofiicials or perhaps be- 
cause tlie Russians thought the Japanese would dislike to fire near the 
British flag, the Columbia had been left lying close to the Russian 
fleet and in the line of fire, so that the Japanese shells aimed at the 
battleships fell thickly around the steamer, several bursting near its 
stern and strewing the deck with splinters and water. 

COOL IN FACE OF DEATH. 

"Capt. Anderson then got under vvay, although ordered by the 
Russians not to leave, and despite the protests of the Russian guards 
aboard, who Vv^ere eventually conveyed to Cliefoo. 

"On one occasion, vvhile the shells v^^ere bursting round about us, the 
captain called : *Boy, get m.e some cigarettes.' 

"The vessel was brought out of its excessively dangerous position 
by running near shore and then making full speed for Chefoo. 

"The Russian guards were praying fervently and the Chinese crew 
was frightened, but worked well. We feared the Russian batteries 
would sink us for disobeying orders or send a torpedo boat in pursuit. 
The captain liad repeatedly signaled for permission to proceed, but 
his signals were not answered. 

GOOD SHOOTING OF JAPS. 

"The bombardment of the port lasted till 1 1 145, the Japanese shoot- 
ing with good aim. Two shells burst on the summit of one fort and 
numbers on the face of the cliffs and along the beach. All of them 



THE SECOND SHOT OF THE WAR. 43 

were heavy shells. Owing to the length of the range all the shells burst 
on contact with the water or land. Some threw out yellow smoke, but 
generally it was dense, black smoke, temporarily concealing the ships 
struck. 

"The rate of fire on both sides was slow, many Russian shells falling 
short. The Sebastopol or a sister ship was hit by a heavy shell near 
the base of its forward funnel. Another three funneled battleship was 
struck amidships on its armor plating. A third, also a battleship, was 
struck abaft its armored section near the stern. 

"The exact damage could not be learned. The fleets were about 
three miles apart. Apparently no ship on either side was disabled. 



PLUCKY FIGHTING OF RUSSIANS. 

"The Russian cruiser Novik fought pluckily, keeping by far the 
closest to the Japs till a heavy fire was concentrated on it and compelled 
it to retire on the battleships. The other Russian cruisers fought at 
first outside of the line of battleships. The Russians seemed to fight 
with little formation, probably owing to the cramped space, being 
never more than a mile and a half from the shore. They remained 
all the time under the guns of the forts,- vv^hich fired over them, but 
not frequently. Wlienever the heaviest shore batteries fired over our 
heads the air vibrated strongly and there was a great crackling. 

"Before the action vv^e saw the Russian battleships throvN^ing beds 
and other lumber through gun ports. Chinese in sampans were 
busily engaged in picking up the articles (including pingpong tables) 
until the shells began to fall. The Russian battleships constantly 
wheeled round in the same position, while the Japanese kept a splendid 
formation, retiring slowly in line to the southeast at 11 145 after half 
an hour's action.',' 

DEVELOPMENTS AT ST. PETERSBURG. 

The news that Japan had duplicated her tactics at the opening of the 
Chino-Japanese war by a torpedo attack on the Russian ships off Port 
Arthur created intense excitement throughout the \vorld. The bare 
announcement came to St. Petersburg from Viceroy Alexieff at 8 



44 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

o'clock in the morning of the 9th, Extra editions of the morning 
papers printed early in the forenoon, after the appearance of the Official 
Messenger, conveyed the intelligence to the population of the capital 
and dispelled any lingering hopes that war could be averted. 

The czar and his ministers, who had been informed immediately of 
the receipt of Viceroy Alexieff's telegram, accepted the gage and pre- 
pared to face the reality of war. The czar's manifesto declaring a 
state of war to exist was immediately drafted. 

Feverish activity reigned at the ministries and war preparations 
were pushed in all directions. The Russian Red Cross society had 
already sent 2,000 beds to the far East and Sisters of Mercy began 
leaving for the front. 

japan's attack denounced. 

The temper of the' people of Russia which was indicated in the great 
personal demonstration accorded to their majesties at the imperial 
opera house the preceding evening, the audience rising and singing 
*'God save the Czar and Give Him Victory,'' was further manifested 
after the arrival of the news from Port Arthur in the crowds of 
volunteers who besieged the general staff offices. 

The action of the Japanese in attacking the Russian fleet without 
a declaration of war was denounced as an' outrage by the Russians 
generally and the result, instead of discouraging them, seemed to fur- 
nish the spark necessary to fire their patriotism. The imperial ball 
which was to have been given that evening was cancelled and the 
imperial court and all its functionaries preferred to attend a solemn 
te deum to pray for divine blessing. 

St. Petersburg was aflame with the excitement of war. Vast 
crowds of cheering people filled the streets, while the vast plaza in 
front of the winter palace surged with excited throngs, shouting and 
cheering for Russia and the czar. 

In the crowds were soldiers, students, court pages, laborers, Jews, 
Moujiks, merchants, and society folk. The vast concourse watched 
keenlv for an hour and a half the brilliantly lighted windows of the 



THE SECOND SHOT OF THE WAR. 45 

imperial residence where the emperor had called his highest officials 
and members of his court to pray for the success of Russian arms in 
the war which had been so suddenly precipitated. 

CZAR SEEKS AID OF GOD. 

There was an unprecedented scene at the religious services held in 
the winter palace that afternoon. At the command of the czar a great 
concourse of ministers, court officials, high state functionaries, women 
of rank, and military men assembled in St. George's hall, all the men 
arrayed in full uniform. After some delay, which became almost 
oppressive because of the feeling of solemnity plainly apparent, the 
doors of the imperial apartments opened and the czar entered, wearing 
the uniform of the First Guard Regiment of Russia, with the dowager 
czarina on his arm. The dowager wore a costume of pearl gray and 
no jewels. The young czarina, wearing her favorite white and silver, 
followed, escorted by the Grand Duke Michael, the heir presumptive. 
The entire imperial family followed in order of precedence. 

Approaching a group of naval and military officers, his majesty 
turned gravely and greeted them with the customary Russian phrase: 

"I wish you good health, gentlemen." 

The officers responded with a loud acclaim, shouting vigorous hur- 
rahs. 

The scene became one of wild enthusiasm, amidst which the imperial 
procession moved forward, entered the chapel, advanced to the altar, 
and stood with bowed heads while the choir and clergy intoned an 
impressive intercessory service of the Greek church. An intensely 
religious spirit pervaded the entire assemblage, which crowded the 
little palace chapel to its utmost capacity. During the recital of the 
litany many knelt and even bowed their heads to the chapel floor. 

The court chaplain, attended by the deacon, reverently approached 
the czar and sprinkled him with holy water from the chalice, and pre- 
sented a crucifix, which the czar kissed fervently. 

At the conclusion of the service the imperial party slowly retired. 
As they re-entered the palace another scene of enthusiasm greeted 



46 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

them. The czar made no address. Darkness had fallen before the 
service was finished. 

This ceremony was additionally notable from the fact that it took 
the place of the grand imperial ball. 

THE JAPANESE SPY SYSTEM. 

It will not be inappropriate at this point to digress for the moment 
to throw a side light upon the subtle Japanese cliaracter, as illustrated 
in the Japanese preliminary preparations for the surprise at Port 
Arthur. The attack in itself speaks eloquently on the subject. Ad- 
ditional details that soon leaked out are well worthy of a place in 
this record. 

A high officer in the Japanese navy visited Port Arthur only 
twenty-four hours before the surprise and noted the exact position of 
the Russian warships and also saw that they had little steam up and 
were not keeping a sharp outlook. 

When the Japanese consul at Chefoo was informed by his govern- 
ment that the Japanese minister at St. Petersburg had withdrawn on 
the preceding Saturday, he chartered a British vessel and v.-ent to Port 
Artluir and Dalny to take off Japanese subjects and refugees. 

He was afforded every facility by the Russian government officials 
at Port Arthur. Quarantine was removed and the consul entered the 
town in official dress. He was saluted by the soldiers and invited to 
dinner by a high official, where the toast drunk was that peace might 
be restored. After leaving Dalny the consul's steamer encountered 
the Japanese fleet, about eighteen miles from Port Arthur. 

A high naval Japanese commander had traveled as a servant in the 
consul's retinue to Port Arthur. As soon as the Japanese fleet was 
sighted signals were interchanged and the Japanese naval officer Vv^as 
taken aboard the flagship. There he made a detailed report of his 
observations to Admiral Togo, tlie commander of the Japanese fleet, 
and prepared for the attack that had been planned and was uppermost 
in his mind when drinking the peace toast. The position of every 
Russian vessel was charted and its condition duly noted so that the 



THE SECOND SHOT OF THE WAR. 47 

Japanese torpedo flotilla entered the harbor on its errand of destruction 
as fully acquainted with the surroundings as the Russian commanders 
themselves. 

This and similar actions of the Japanese military and naval com- 
manders, overrunning the east in the guise of laborers and servants, 
coupled with the circumstances of the attack itself, roused Russia into 
a fury that knew no bounds. Patriotism and enthusiasm beyond the 
conception of Russia's western critics swept over her people in all 
walks of life and there came a cry for vengeance and reprisal. War 
must follow such a situation of a certainty. It did. * 

ALL RUSSIA AROUSED. 

Two days after the first shot the czar himself — peace-loving Nicholas 
— had ordered the mobilization of the army reserves in east Asia and 
was giving personal supervision to the forwarding of war supplies. 
The war department practically assumed control of the Transsiberian 
railway and its capacity already was taxed to the utmost in the trans- 
portation of troops and munitions of war. One of the day's military 
consignments was seventy-two quick firing mountain guns and seven- 
teen carloads of ammunition from the arsenal at Moscow. 

The state of feeling at St. Petersburg was illustrated at the theaters 
when people demanded the national anthem. More remarkable was 
the refusal of the drosky drivers to accept money from officers whom 
they drove to the palace. 

CZAR ADDRESSES NAVAL CADETS. 

There was a great scene at the naval academy when the czar person- 
ally advanced the senior class to the rank of officers. The czar, who 
v/ore an admiral's uniform, in addressing the cadets, said : 

"You are aware, gentlemen, that two days ago war was declared 
upon us. The insolent foe came by night and attacked our stronghold 
and fleet. Russia nov>f needs her navy as well as her army. I have 
come today to promote you to the rank of midshipmen. I am confident 
that, like your revered predecessors, Admirals Chicagof , Lazaref, Nak- 



48 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

liimof, Karnilof, and Istomin, you will work for the welfare and 
glory of our beloved fatherland and devote all your energies to the 
fleet over which flies the flag of St. Andrew." 

After his majesty's departure the newly promoted officers hired 
sleighs and drove up and down the quay fronting the winter palace, 
clad only in their black tunics, unmindful of the bitter cold, and 
shouting wild hurrahs. Grave visaged generals, carried away by emo- 
tion, saluted the youngsters, whose only regret was that their service 
uniforms were not ready so as to permit of their departure for the far 
East on the spur of the moment. 

Russia's declaration of war. 

That same day the great white czar's message of war was made 
known to Russia and the world. Complaining bitterly of Japanese 
assassination, rathef than warfare, the "supreme manifest kindled the 
fires of war into a raging flame." This important and historic docu- 
ment follows : 

"By the grace of God, we, Nicholas H, emperor and autocrat of 
all the Russias, etc., make known to all our loyal subjects : 

*Tn our solicitude for the maintenance of peace, which is dear to 
our heart, we made every exertion to consolidate tranquillity in the 
far East. In these peaceful aims we signified assent to the proposals 
of the Japanese government to revise agreements regarding Korean 
affairs existing between the two governments. However, the nego- 
tiations begun upon this subject were not brought to a conclusion, and 
Japan, without awaiting the receipt of the last responsive proposals 
of our government, declared the negotiations broken off and diplomatic 
relations with Russia dissolved. 

"Without advising us of the fact that the breach of such relations 
would in itself mean an opening of warlike operations, the Japanese 
government gave orders to its torpedo boats to suddenly attack our 
squadron standing in the outer harbor of the fortress of Port Arthur. 
Upon receiving reports from the viceroy in the far East about this we 




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THE SECOND SHOT OF THE WAR. 



65 



immediately commanded him to answer the Japanese challenge with 
armed force. 

"Making known this, our decision, we, with unshaken faith in the 
Almighty, and with a firm expectation of and reliance upon the unani- 
mous willingness of all our loyal subjects to stand with us in defense 
of the fatherland, ask God's blessing upon our stalwart land and naval 
forces. 

"Given at St. Petersburg, Jan. 2j, 1904 A. D. (new calendar, Feb. 
9, 1904), and in the tenth year of our reign. Written in full by the 
hand of his imperial majesty, NICHOLAS." 




CHAPTER III. 
ECHOES OF THE FIRST SHOT. 

Russian Disaster at Chemulpo — Heroism of the Russians — Brave Men Cheered — 
Blown Up with Dead on Board — How Russians Were Trapped — Russian 
Transport Accidentally Destroyed — Blunders! Blunders! More Blunders! 

EVEN while the guns at Port Arthur were booming forth defiance 
and death in the first day of the war, the circle of strife 
was widening and the spirit of warfare was reaching with 
greedy hands for victims in all directions. After having conducted the 
most successful torpedo flotilla attack in the history of modern war- 
fare, the Japanese fleet of sixteen vessels returned to Port Arthur in 
the forenoon of the next day and renewed the bombardment, as already 
recited. In that action four more Russian vessels were struck, adding 
the first class battleship Poltava and the cruisers Diana, Askold, and 
Novik to the list of cripples in the confused and demoralized Russian 
fleet, which had already suffered serious injury to the Retvizan and 
Cesarevitch, both battleships, and the cruiser Pallada. 

RUSSIAN DISASTER AT CHEMULPO. 

On that same day the cruising warships of the Mikado bottled 

up two isolated units of the Czar's navy and forced them to disastrous 

battle at Chemulpo, on the Korean coast, three hundred miles south 

and east as the crow flies. Throughout the entire Korean peninsula 

detachments of the Japanese army were being landed under cover of 

the action at Port Arthur and with the knowledge that the Russian 

66 



ECHOES OF THE FIRST SHOT. 6; 

fleets at that point and at Vladivostok, 1,200 miles away, were in 
no position to interfere. 

Japanese warships covering this wholesale movement of troops 
encountered the Russian cruiser Variag and gunboat Korietz in the 
harbor at Chemulpo. The latter were greatly outclassed by the 
Japs in numbers, armament and the character of the ships, and the 
Russian commander quite naturally sought to avoid a fight. Early 
in the morning of Tuesday Admiral Uriu, commanding the Japanese 
squadron, formally called on the Russian warships to leave Chemulpo 
before noon. The admiral added that if his demand was not com- 
plied with he would be compelled to attack them in the harbor. 

The two Russian warships left the port at about 1 1 130 a. m. and 
a battle ensued outside the Polynesian islands. After an hour's en- 
gagement the Russian warships sought refuge among the islands. 
Towards the evening the Russian cruiser Variag sank, and the Kori- 
etz was blown up. The officers and men of the two sunken vessels 
sought refuge on the French cruiser Pascal and vessels of other 
powers in the harbor. 

HEROISM OF THE RUSSIANS. 

Before the fight the captain of the Russian cruiser Variag held a 
conference with the British, French and Italian captains, aboard the 
British cruiser Talbot, in which he asked for the protection of a foreign 
warship in leaving the harbor. 

The request was refused. The British captain, however, delivered 
a protest to the Japanese admiral immediately before the action. 

The Americans present refrained from attending the naval con- 
ference, or partaking in the demonstration, although some of the 
Russian wounded were received on board the United States gunboat 
Vicksburg later. 

With their bands playing the national anthem and their crews 
cheering wildly the two vessels went forth to certain defeat. Their 
action set at rest all talk of Russian sailors' cowardice and elicited 
cheers and applause from the crews of the shipping in the harbor. 



68 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Both vessels received a baptism of fire, replied in kind, made a gallant 
fight against overwhelming odds and returned sinking and laden with 
dead and dying. The commanders of both caused their destruction 
to prevent the battered hulks from falling into the hands of the 
Japanese lest they be refitted for service against the Russian flag. 
While the Variag was being sunk its captain, fearing that the Japanese 
would reach the vessel before it settled down, requested the captain of 
the British Talbot to fire at the Variag's water line. This request 
was refused. 

DETAILS OF THE FIGHT. 

The two Russian vessels weighed anchor a trifle before noon, 
steamed down the bay, and encountered the Japanese fleet while 
rounding an island nine miles from Chemulpo. 

The Russians made a brave fight against an immensely superior 
force. The engagement was watched by thousands of persons on 
shore, who had gathered in anticipation of a collision. The American 
gunboat Vicksburg, the British cruiser Talbot, the French cruiser 
Pascal, and the Italian cruiser Elba were witnesses of the engagement, 
and all saluted the victorious flag. 

The Korietz was utterly overmatched. Broadsides from the Japan- 
ese vessels raked it continuously until it began to sink. Many of the 
crew were killed by shells or drowned. Those of the survivors who 
sv\-am ashore were captured by Japanese soldiers. 

As the cruiser Variag was steaming out of the harbor it was met by 
a hail of shells. Its masts speedily fell. The crew fought with des- 
perate energy for several hours. 

Sir Cyprian Bridge, the British admiral in command at that sta- 
tion, stated that the British cruiser Talbot, the Italian cruiser Elba, and 
the French cruiser Pascal took on board at Chemulpo the crews of 
the destroyed Russian ships Variag and Korietz. On the Talbot 150 
men were reported, many of them wounded. The admiral ordered 
that the wounded Russians were not to be handed over to the Japanese 
unless the Russians themselves desired it. 



ECHOES OF THE FIRST SHOT. 69 

United States Minister Allen at Seoul cabled the state department 
a report that twenty-one Japanese naval vessels arrived at Chemulpo 
on the afternoon of Feb. 9. The Russian naval vessels, the Variag 
and Korietz, were in Chemulpo harbor and attempted to prevent the 
landing of the Japanese forces, but with no success. Minister Allen's 
report continued: 

"A running naval engagement took place in Chemulpo harbor, be- 
ginning at noon. The Variag and Korietz again attempted to escape, 
but failed. The Variag was injured. On their return the Japanese 
naval vessels announced officially that they would attack the place at 4 
o'clock p. m. At the latter hour the Korietz blew up and sank. The 
Japanese naval vessels attacked the Variag from the outside harbor 
until it sank." 

An American eye witness of this uneven battle in remote Chemulpo, 
writing from Seoul, gives the following detailed account of it: 

"During the night of Feb. 8 the Japanese landed 1,300 men at 
Chemulpo and on the morning of Feb. 9 three Japanese cruisers, four 
gunboats and eight torpedo-boat destroyers, under command of Ad-^ 
miral Uriu, approached the harbor, but did not enter. The Korietz 
and Variag were lying in the harbor. The Japanese admiral gave 
them until noon to come out. Both Russian vessels cleared for 
action. All the shipping in the harbor was notified by Admiral Uriu 
to get out of the firing line. 

BRAVE MEN CHEERED. 

"There was in the harbor also the British cruiser Talbot, the French 
cruiser Pascal, the Italian cruiser Elba and the United States gunboat 
Vicksburg. All were active. The Variag signaled the Talbot and a 
boat from the British cruiser went on board. Shortly afterward the 
Variag and Korietz got under way and steamed out of the harbor. 
The crew of the English warship cheered them as they went out to 
fight. When the Russians were four miles out the Japanese threw a 
shot across their bows, but they did not stop. The Japanese laj^ 



70 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

between the islands ten miles out, blocking the only entrance to the 
harbor, 

"When the Russians were six miles from the Japanese fleet heavy 
firing began on both sides. The Variag turned her broadside loose 
at II :55 a. m. Then the Variag turned at right angles to the west- 
ward and steamed a short distance, as if to make the beach, but was 
seen to suddenly turn again east and give the enemy her other broad- 
side. The Japanese continued firing until 12 :22, when the Variag was 
seen to be on fire near the stern. The Russian vessels then turned 
back toward the harbor and ceased firing at 12 42 p. m. The Japanese 
followed almost to the entrance of the harbor, firing on the Variag, 
which had a heavy list to port and was evidently in a sinking con- 
dition. The Korietz was practicafly untouched. 

"The Variag lost thirty men and seven of^cers killed and forty-two 
wounded. Count Buro was killed on the bridge. About 600 shots 
were fired in all, but the firing was not accurate and the Variag was 
hit in only six places. One shot which struck her on the water 
line amidships wrecked one of her engines. When the Russians 
anchored ofT the entrance of the harbor the British cruiser sent four 
hospital boats on board with a doctor and nurse. The United States 
gunboat Vicksburg also sent three boats with surgical assistance. 

BLOWN UP WITH THE DEAD ON BOARD. 

"The Korietz was abandoned at 3 :30 p. m., her crew going on board 
the Pascal, and at 3 157 p. m she blew up with a terrific explosion. 
The Variag was abandoned soon after, her officers deeming her situa- 
tion hopeless. Her dead were left on board. 

Survivors of the Variag went on board the Talbot, the Pascal and 
the Elba. Some also went to the Vicksburg. The Variag burned 
until 6 p. m., w^ith frequent explosions, as the flames ignited her am- 
munition. She sank, turning over to port, as she went down. The 
Russians eventually went from the Pascal to the steamship Sungaii. 
A Russian ofificer told the captain of the Vicksburg that he had come 
to ask asylum for one night only. The Japanese casualties are not 



ECHOES OF THE FIRST SHOT. 71 

known, but it is rumored that one torpedo-boat destroyer was sunk 
during the action." 

SILENCE IN JAPAN. 

Meanwhile an almost constant attack was maintained at Port 
Arthur, Japanese troops were pouring into Korea and Russian ship- 
ping was being seized by Japanese vessels scouring the seas for that 
purpose. In strange contrast to public expectation happenings within 
the Russian lines were promptly made public, whereas nothing came 
from Tokyo except stories of Russian cruelty and an occasional bul- 
letin announcing a Japanese victory. Thus the world was made aware 
of the Russian losses and discouragements, but not a word leaked 
out as to what punishment Japan sustained. Both sides maintained a 
strict censorship, which accounts for the incomplete and contradictory 
reports heralded by the press. 

Russia's Vladivostok fleet. 

Practically frozen in at Vladivostok another Russian fleet lay far 
beyond striking distance and in a position affording little likelihood of 
co-operation with the ships bottled up at Port Arthur. It at once 
became apparent that Russia's salvation upon the sea depended upon 
bringing about a conjunction of the fleets at Port Arthur, Vladivostok 
and those in European waters. Japan's prime necessity lay in pre- 
venting the accomplishment of that purpose. The Vladivostok fleet 
sought to draw off the Japanese vessels about Port Arthur by making 
a sortie against Japan's northern coast, bombarding Hakodate, Japan, 
and sinking the Nakonoura, an unarmed Japanese vessel. Meanwhile 
Russia had dispatched fleets from European waters and was struggling 
with the question how to move its Black Sea and Baltic squadrons to 
the scene of war without the violation of treaties governing their move- 
ments. Japanese vessels took up strategic positions to prevent the 
arrival of naval reinforcements and began a campaign to weaken 
and destroy the great Trans-Siberian railroad upon which Russia's de- 
pendence for the movement of troops and supplies hinged. 



72 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Meanwhile, additional details of the intital attack on Port Arthur 
came to light. It developed that the Japanese torpedo boats effected 
an entrance that Monday night into the outer harbor of Port Arthur 
by using Russian signal flashlights. Consequently the Russians did 
not fire. 

Out of the four Japanese torpedo boats which made the first 
attack, three were sunk with great loss of life. The fourth was a 
twenty-eight knot boat and escaped. Two Japanese officers and 
eighteen men swam ashore from one of the sunken torpedo boats and 
was placed in prison in Port Arthur. 

The battleship Pallada was on the outside edge of the Russian 
fleet and on lookout duty that night. The chief artillery officer noticed 
four torpedo boats approach, with full lights, in all respects looking 
like Russian torpedo boats. He informed the captain that they were 
Japanese vessels. 

The captain denied this and said they were built in Port Arthur. 
The artillery officer insisted, and the captain got angry, saying : 

"I am in command of this ship, sir." - 

Despite this, the artillery officer gave orders to prepare for action. 
Immediately after the Japanese launched a torpedo, but the Pallada 
was able to retaliate instantly, and the other Russian ships at once 
cleared for action. 

RUSSIAN TRANSPORT ACCIDENTALLY DESTROYED. 

That Russia was not entirely asleep was demonstrated by the activity 
with which her harbors were mined with powerful explosives. The 
awful potency of these engines of war was soon demonstrated to Rus- 
sia's grief. Through some freak of ill-fortune, that seemed to be the 
lot of the great white bear in the opening stages of the war, the Russian 
torpedo transport Yenisei was blown up as the result of accidentally 
striking a mine at Port Arthur, on the third day of the war. The 
Yenisei sank and Capt. Stepanoff, three officers, and ninety-one men 
were lost. 



ECHOES OF THE FIRST SHOT. 



73 



The Yenisei was built in the Baltic works. It had a displacement 
of 2,500 tons and carried an armament of five twelve-pounders and six 
three-pounders, quick firing guns. The vessel was 300 feet long, 40 
feet beam, and drew 14 feet 6 inches. 

blunders! blunders! more blunders! 

At this stage of the proceedings, a British steamer was fired upon 
by mistake by the Russians at Port Arthur, and an American vessel 
was held. Apologies followed and the American ship was released 
during a temporary withdrawal of the Japanese fleet. 




CHAPTER IV. 
PREPARATIONS FOR LAND BATTLES. 

Russians 300,000 Strong — First 30,000 of 300,000 Japs — Thoughts Turn to Dynamite 
— War's Frightful Cost — Stories of Russian Brutality — Freeze and Drown in 
Arctic Waters — "The Weak Link" — Treason in the Ranks? 

IT became apparent that the Japanese attacks were intended to 
cover the mobihzation of a vast army in Korea for the purpose of 
overrunning Manchuria. Immediately the Czar ordered an army 
of 600,000 men to be in readiness to resist the invasion of Manchuria 
by the Mikado's troops. The ukase, dated Feb. 10, ordered ah troops in 
the mihtary district of Siberia to be placed in readiness for war, that 
all divisions in the far eastern viceroyalty be brought up to war 
strength, and that the army and navy reserves of the Siberian and 
Kazan districts be called to the colors. The military authorities were 
empowered to make requisition for the necessary horses. 

RUSSIANS 300,000 STRONG. 

There were six army corps in the far East, two each in the districts 
of Kazan, Siberia and Amur. Each army corps was made up of 
1,030 officers, 47,653 men, 16,965 horses, and 124 guns. The total 
strength of the six corps called into active service by the Czar thus ap- 
proximated 300,000 men. The army reserves in the same districts 
practically doubled the force. Then followed rapid concentration of 
the Czar's forces on the Yalu river, the boundary between Manchuria 
and Korea. 

74 



PREPARATIONS FOR LAND BATTLES. 75 

Fighting along the river began on Feb. 13, when a general engage- 
ment took place on land and sea. 

The significance of these moves was an effort to cut the railroad and 
telegraphic communication with Port Arthur. 

PORT ARTHUR STILL UNDER FIRE. 

Throughout an almost continuous bombardment was kept up at 
Port Arthur. The Russian cruiser Askold, torpedoed during the 
initial assault on the Russian fleet, was kept afloat until Feb. 14, when 
she sank in thirty fathoms of water. 

FIRST 30,000 OF 300,000 JAPS. 

On Feb. 15, one week after the first shot had been exchanged, nearly 
20,000 Japanese troops were landed at Chemulpo— the first division 
of a large number designed to be thrown into Korea as rapidly as 
possible, in the effort thoroughly to occupy the strategic points in the 
hermit kingdom while the Russian fleet was bottled up in Port Ar- 
thur. 

Then frank announcement was made that the repeated attacks on 
Port Arthur were not for the purpose of seizing that place at once, 
unless an unexpected weakness in the fortifications there developed. 

They were part of a well-defined plan for the harassing of the Rus- 
sian fleet until Korea could be occupied. The bottling up of the fleet 
there enabled the landing of troops on Korea without the convoy of a 
large number of warships. The reports of disorder in various parts 
of Korea hastened the operations of the Japanese that they might ob- 
tain possession before anarchy became prevalent and foreign interests 
menaced in consequence, bringing on greater possibility of further 
international complications. 

Reports of the sinking of a Japanese transport with 1,800 soldiers 
on board came with the following day, and the efforts of that portion 
of the Japanese fleet which was lying in wait for the Russian colliers 
on their way from Europe to Port Arthur with fuel for the Czar's 
squadron, were rewarded by the capture of six Norwegian vessels. 



76 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

More than 100,000 tons was on the way to the far East from 
Europe, and the Mikado's naval officers were given orders to capture 
as many of the colHer fleet as possible. 

Fifteen warships destroyed and eight captured was the record of 
the Japanese navy up to this time, according to reports the government 
of Japan made public. 

The mobilization of the Japanese army had been carried out method- 
ically. Fully 300,000 troops were now ready to be placed in the field 
without impairing the national defenses. The movements of the troops 
were shrouded in secrecy. They were moved at night toward their 
bases at Sasebo, Kure, Miji and Yokusuka, and the lights of ordinary 
trains were extinguished when in the neighborhood of troop trains. 

]\Iembers of the reserve force immediately stepped into the places of 
the outgoing regulars. Their organization was perfect and a full 
equipment ready for each one of the reserves. 

Hundreds of hotels, tea houses and temples were requisitioned, in 
Tokyo and other divisional centers. All the steamers of Japanese 
merchant liners were rapidly converted into auxiliary cruisers, armed 
with quick-firing guns and fitted with torpedo tubes. 

The government officials refused to give out any information re- 
garding their military intentions. They expected to profit by dissen- 
sions in the Russians' council of state. They believed that the extra- 
ordinary powers conferred on Viceroy Alexieff would lead to a clash 
between Foreign Minister Lamsdorf and Gen. Kuropatkin, especially 
as the general is unfriendly to Aliexeff. The result of a disagreement 
between these two Russian leaders would be to their advantage. 

Japanese officials felt convinced that the Russians would be unable 
to concentrate and maintain 50,000 troops at any important point 
of military operations. 

THOUGHTS TURN TO DYNAMITE. 

Popular gossip in Japan turned on the possible dynamiting of the 
Russian railroad in Manchuria. Thousands of Japanese who were 
practically undistinguishable from Chinese were working in Man- 



PREPARATIONS FOR LAND BATTLES. 77 

chnria, and would willingly risk their lives to aid their country's cause. 
A protective boom of mines was early placed about the entrance 
of Nagasaki harbor. Yokohama and other ports were also guarded 
by mines. 

STORIES OF RUSSIAN BRUTALITY. 

At this time came numerous Japanese complaints of Russian ill- 
treatment. It was said that 400 Japanese refugees from Harbin and 
elsewhere, who arrived at Mukden Feb. 10, were arrested and that 
many of them were severely beaten and detained until they purchased 
their release. When they were liberated the Japanese were sent in 
open trucks to Taihichou, where they were again maltreated and sent 
on to Port Arthur. Some of their wom^n were sent to Newchwang. 
United States Consul Miller took the women under his protection 
and sent them to Shanhaikwan, 

With the whole country swarming .with Japanese, any number of 
whom might prove spies, and whose presence contributed to the dan- 
ger of a food famine in event of a prolonged siege, the Russians on 
the peninsula leading to Port Arthur and on the mainland, promptly 
set about clearing them out. Stories concerning the treatment ac- 
corded the refugees and those under suspicion of spying — which might 
include the whole number without any great stretch of the imagina- 
tion — are exceedingly contradictory. It may be safe to assume that 
the Russian soldiers, never noted for gentility toward a hated and 
despised foe, took no particular pains to make pleasant the plight of the 
Japanese settlers and coolies within their lines. 

war's frightful cost. 

By Feb. 15, Port Arthur was systematically besieged by the Japan- 
ese, with prospects of being surrounded on sea and land, but in the 
maneuvering to accomplish this feat the Japanese lost in dead more 
than 2,200 men. Of these 1,800 perished in the sinking of a transport 
and 410 died in a desperate hand-to-hand battle on land. 

In this combat the Cossacks, at the bayonet point, drove back an 



78 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

army of 12,000 Japanese soldiers, who had attempted to make a 
landing at a point menacing Port Arthur. 

ATTEMPTED LANDINGS NEAR PORT ARTHUR. 

The Japanese fleet which had paralyzed the Russian fleet and bottled 
it up at Port Arthur, made an effort to land in the rear of Port Arthur 
two forces of men simultaneously on opposite sides of the peninsula. 
The Japanese object was to completely cut the Russian Gibraltar off 
from communications and supplies. 

One party was landed on the west at Pigeon, or Dove Bay, just 
north of the last of the Russian land fortifications there on the west 
of the peninsula. 

The other party was landed on the east at Talien Wan Bay. These 
tactics were a repetition of the Japanese maneuvers in the war with 
China. 

But the result was different. In the war with China the Japanese 
made a successful landing and subsequently captured the fort. In 
this instance, both parties were repulsed with serious losses, after the 
Russians had engaged them in a hand-to-hand fight. In an engage- 
ment near Dalny, many Japanese were sabred to death by Cossack cav- 
alry. Elsewhere the Japanese succeeded in making temporary land- 
ings that enabled them to damage the railroad. Anticipating a fur- 
ther flank movement, the Russians began laying mines in the harbor 
at Dalny, and a merchant fleet of ten neutral ships left under escort 
of torpedo boats. 

FREEZE AND DROWN IN ARCTIC WINTER. 

At this same time, additional horrors began to unfold. One of 
the much-dreaded storms that terrorize Lake Baikal broke out, just 
at the moment when the rails were being laid over the ice to transport 
troops to the front. A double rupture of the ice had taken place some 
versts from Tanhoi on the eastern side, leaving open gaps of sev- 
eral yards to be filled up with ice blocks. 

The work had been interrupted some days while wood sleepers 



PREPARATIONS FOR LAND BATTLES. 79 

were massing in big stacks at Irkutsk, men having been employed in 
consolidating the railway there. Thus the anticipated road across the 
lake was not completed, as was hoped, in time to facilitate the mass- 
ing of Russian troops at the Yalu. Impatient commanders sought to 
rush their men across the frozen surface on foot. In consequence, 
what might have been expected happened. A large detachment of 
soldiers were overtaken in a blinding blizzard. They struggled on, 
unable to advance or retreat with intelligence in the face of the storm. 
Of the band that set out 600 were lost and perished in the bitter blast. 
Those who escaped were fit only for the hospital. 

It is a matter of common knowledge that there is a Trans-Siberian 
railway, and that on it Russia must depend for the transportation of 
troops and supplies from the European part of the empire to the far 
East. It is not generally known that the continuity of that road is 
broken and its military value lessened by the existence of Lake Baikal, 
which has been appropriately described as "the weakest link in a 
rather weak chain" of transportation between Russia and the Pacific 
ocean. 

"the weak link." 

Lake Baikal is situated in eastern Siberia, at an altitude of 1,400 
feet, surrounded by wild mountains which rise to 4,000 feet. It is 
chescent-shaped. Its greatest length is 370 miles ; its greatest breadth 
about 70 miles; its greatest depth 4,500 feet, and its average depth 
about 800 feet. Three large rivers and many streams discharge into 
the lake, which empties through the lower Angara into the Yenisei. 
The lake is frozen from January to the beginning of May. It forms 
part of the line of communication between Russia, the Amur and 
China. 

In winter the lake is crossed on the ice and a temporary station is 
established half-way. Many people have lost their lives in the wild 
storms that sweep over the ice and sometimes partly break it up. A 
road has been built round the south coast. The Trans-Siberian rail- 
way will follow this road, but it is not yet complete, communication 



So THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

being maintained in summer by steamer and in winter by means of a 
temporary railway on the ice. This temporary railway had not been 
finished this year. The lake is a great fishing ground, 60,000 hundred- 
weight of salmon being cured every year. 

The railroad, when completed, will make a detour around the south- 
ern end of the lake. As the country to be traversed is mountainous 
and much tunneling will be required, work on that section has been 
pushed slowly, and cars laden with passengers and freight are taken 
across the lake in great ferry boats. Fairly good service can be had 
in summer, though sudden and violent storms sweep the lake at 
times and make navigation hazardous. In winter it is impossible. 

The lake lies so far north and at such a height above the ocean 
that it begins to freeze in November, and by the beginning or middle 
of December is frozen over to a depth of nine and a half feet, and re- 
mains ice-bound for about five months. The Russian government, en- 
couraged by the success of ice breakers it has used in the Baltic and 
the White seas, bought an immense one for use on Lake Baikal, but it 
was practically a failure. 

If it were not for one insurmountable difficulty it would be easy to 
lay rails on the ice and run light trains during midwinter or to organize 
a sledge service across it. Unfortunately, crevices from three to six 
feet wide and two-thirds of a mile in length are continually opening. 
When they close they pile up the ice along their course in almost 
impassable hummocks. The thermometer in that region often drops 
to 35 or 40 degrees below Fahrenheit zero in December and January, 
and the weather is not much milder in February. 

If the United States were carrying on war in the Rocky moun- 
tains; if it had to send men and provisions over one insufficiently 
equipped, poorly-constructed, single-track railroad, which was bisected 
by Lake Michigan, and if the lake were so blocked with ice that it 
could be crossed only with the greatest difficulty, the government 
would be almost as badly hampered as Russia is now. Russia had 
millions of men and unlimited stores of supplies. Her problem was 



PREPARATIONS FOR LAND BATTLES. 8i 

to get them to Manchuria. Lake Baikal broke the Hne of communica- 
tion, and in so doing merely added her contribution to the overflow- 
ing cup of sorrow that was Russia's portion. 

ONE WOE DOTH TREAD ANOTHER'S HEEL. 

Then, if at any time, the great white Czar might have cried in all 
truth, like the Queen mother in Hamlet : 

"One woe doth tread another's heel, so fast they follow." 

With conditions bordering on anarchy prevailing throughout the 
entire East, half the length of the great Manchurian railroad 
jeopardized by bands of Chinese malcontents, Vladivostok threatened 
with famine. Port Arthur beseiged by a superior force, the land over- 
run by Japanese and their oriental sympathizers favored with a physi- 
cal make-up, disguising military expert and vagabond outcast beyond 
recognition, two Russian fleets helplessly bottled up, and reinforce- 
ments cut off — with all this to contend against, came word that an- 
other Russian vessel had been destroyed by Russian mines set to hold 
off the enemy at Port Arthur. This one proved to be the, Russian 
cruiser Boyarin. All her officers and crew, 197 in number, were 
lost. 

The Bayarin was 348 feet long, 41 feet beam and 16 feet draft. 
She was of 3,200 tons displacement and her trial speed was twenty- 
five knots. Her armament consisted of six 4.7-inch guns, eight 1.8- 
inch guns; two 1.4-inch guns and three machine guns. She was 
also fitted with six torpedo tubes. The Bayarin was last reported, 
prior to its destruction, as having taken part in the engagement of 
Feb. 9, at Port Arthur. 

TREASON IN THE RANKS? 

That two Russian warships should be blown up accidentally by their 
own mines in Port Arthur's waters was most remarkable. It was 
taken to indicate either a state of demoralization or a lack of discipline 
which is almost inconceivable. 

In some quarters the suggestion was made and received some 



82 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

credence that these strange disasters may have been the work of revo- 
lutionists pressed into the service of the Czar. 

The loss of neither of the vessels thus blown up affected the fighting 
strength of the Russian fleet to any extent, but the fact of the acci- 
dental explosions did not look well for the efficiency of the Czar's 
naval forces. 

STORM PREVENTS ANOTHER ATTACK. 

Throughout, a withering, menacing attack was kept up upon Port 
Arthur and the fleet there. Only a heavy storm spared the Russians 
from a desperate torpedo attack in force at Port Arthur on the morn- 
ing of Sunday, Feb. 14. 

During the preceding night the vessels of the Japanese flotilla of 
torpedo craft were parted by the force of the blinding snowstorm 
so that only two of the larger destroyers succeeded in forcing their 
way through the fierce gale to Port Arthur. 

When they arrived there they attacked separately and the officers 
of one of them reported they were confident that they succeeded in 
torpedoing a Russian warship. 

Anarchy truly reigned on all sides and throughout northern and 
eastern Asia abuses, pillage and murder became rampant. The lowest 
instincts in human nature had been aroused and mankind was burn- 
ing with desire to share in the disorder. Personal rights and privi- 
leges disappeared and the land teemed with non-combatants of every 
kind, seeking to escape the war-cursed spot. Away to the south, in 
China, new embarrassments confronted Russia, where the Russiaiv 
gunboat Mandjui, isolated and bottled by a superior Japanese force,, 
sought refuge in the Yang-tse Kiang river and after her commandeb 
had vainly offered to disarm his ship until after the close of hostilities, 
refused to depart. China, under the ordinary rules of neutrality, was 
compelled to enforce departure within 24 hours. Defying Japan and 
China alike, the Russian commander lay in his snug berth refusing to 
come out to certain defeat, and contributing to China's embarrass- 
ment. 



PREPARATIONS -FOR LAND BATTLES. 83 

By Sunday, Feb. 21, two weeks after the opening shot, the crash of 
warfare could be heard over a battle line of a thousand miles, reaching 
nearly from Port Arthur to Vladivostok. Harbin, where the Chinese 
Eastern Railway branches off from the Trans-Siberian road and runs 
southward to Port Arthur, had been selected to be the great military 
center of Russia's operations. Viceroy Alexieff, convinced that Port 
Arthur must sooner or later fall into the enemy's hands, unless un- 
expected succor was at hand, decided upon the change of base before 
necessities might compel it. 

TRANSFER OF RUSSIAN HEADQUARTERS. 

With this in view he began concentrating his forces at Harbin, 
which is so far back from the coast that there was little likelihood of 
the Japanese ever being able to reach it. It is far enough back also 
to render it improbable that the Japanese would be able to get in his 
rear and by destroying the railroad cut off his communications with 
the west. 

Instead of sending more troops to Port Arthur they were concen- 
trated at Harbin as they arrived from Russia and from there dis- 
patched to such points as required their presence. Some were sent 
south to Newchwang, Antung and the points along the Yalu, and 
others east to Vladivostok, which the Japanese were expected to at- 
tack as soon as the opening of spring permitted. 

The Russian fleet in Port Arthur harbor was seriously hampered 
by the congestion of the anchorage for large ships. Several big Rus- 
sian merchantmen in the harbor dared not leave, as to do so would 
mean almost certain capture by the Japanese. The harbor naturally 
affords perfect shelter and good anchorage for a number of large ves. 
sels, but with the battleships, cruisers and merchantmen it was so 
crowded that the warships were greatly inconvenienced. 

The water supply in Tort Arthur is poor at best, and much incon- 
venience was suffered both by the fleet and garrison from this source 
under the conditions that were enforced. 

Two big steamers belonging to the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Company 



84 THE GREAT WAR IX THE EAST. 

were captured by Japanese cruisers just outside of Port Arthur har- 
bor. The Kolik and the Bovrik, after having been shut up in tlie 
harbor for ten days, attempted to escape. The Japanese warships were 
not in sight and it was beheved that the coast was clear. The steamers 
got under way and left the harbor, but were only a few miles out 
when Japanese warships appeared and made prizes of both, taking them 
to Nagasaki. 

IMPERIAL CRY FOR VT.'SGEXSCE. 

In the face of these conditions and with a great war just opening, 
the embarrassment of the Russians was made known to the people in 
an official proclamation, urging patience and breathing forth the spirit 
of vengeance with which the Czars campaign was henceforth con- 
ducted. The full text of this unusual document follows : 

''Eight days have now elapsed since all Russia was shaken with pro- 
found indignation against an enemy who suddenly broke off negotia- 
tions and by a treacherous attack endeavored to obtain an easy success 
in a war long desired. The Russian nation, with natural impatience, 
desires prompt vengeance and awaits feverishly news from the far 
East. 

'•'The unit}' and strength of the Russian people leave no room for 
doubt that Japan will receive the chastisement she deserves for her 
treacher)' and provocation to war at a time when our beloved sovereign 
desired to maintain peace among the nations. The conditions under 
which hostilities are being carried on compel us to wait with patience 
news of the success of our troops, which cannot occur before decisive 
actions are fought by the Russian army. 

"The distance of the territory and the desire of the Emperor to 
maintain peace were the causes of the impossibility of more complete 
and earlier preparations for war. 

"Much time is now necessary in order to strike at Japan, but it is 
worthy of the dignity and might of Russia and, while sparing as much 
as possible the shedding of blood of her children to inflict just chastise- 
ment upon the nation which has provoked the struggle, Russia must 



PREP-\R.\TIOXS FOR LAXD BATTLES. 85 

await tlie event in patience, being sure that our army will avenge a 
hundredfold that provocation. 

'"Operations on land must not be expected for some time yet and 
we cannot obtain early news from the theater of war. The useless 
shedding of blood is unwortliy the greatness and power of Russia. 

"Our countr}- displays such imit}- and desire for self-sacrifice on 
behalf of the national cause that all true news from the scene of hos- 
tilities will be immediately due to the entire nation." 

THE \1CER0Y's PROCILAMATION. 

At the same time., much tlie same spirit was soimded in an order 
issued to tlie besieged troops at Port Artliur by ^'iceroy Alexieu. The 
document follows : 

"A heroic army and fleet have been instnisted to me by his majesty, 
tlie Emperor, and now, when the eyes of the Czar of Russia and of 
tlie world are upon us, we must remember that it is our sacred duty 
to protect the Czar and tlie fatlierland. 

''Russia is great and powerful and if our foe is strong this must 
give us additional strength and power to fight liim. The spirit of the 
Russian soldiers and sailors is liigh. Our army and na^y know many 
reno^^-lled names, wliich must in this hour sen-e as an example to us. 

*'Our God, who has always upheld the cause that is just, is doing so 
now. Let us unite for the coming struggle ; let even.- man be of tran- 
quil mind, in order tlie better to fulfill his dut}*, trusting in the help 
of tlie Almighty, and let ever}- man perform his task, ronembering 
that prayer to God and sen-ice to tlie Emperor are never w-asted. 

•'■'Long live the Emperor and the fatherland ! God be witli us I Hur- 
rah!" 

Such ^^-as the spirit that closed the first period of the war, ushering 
in another and equally bloody epocli. 



CHAPTER V. 
THE CAUSE OF THE WAR. 

Russia's March to the Pacific — War Over the Fruits of War — Hermit Monarch Has 
American Wife — The Great Commissary Question — Language Difficulty. 

HRISTENDOM'S mightiest pov/er and the greatest of 
heathen and semi-heathen nations springing at each other's 
throat! All the wondering world watched the deadly strug- 
gle with bated breath. Destruction of fleets and the annihilation of 
armies followed so thick and fast, echoing around the globe through 
the medium of the telegraph and the ever-present press correspondent, 
that the stirring scenes at the theater of war absorbed the universal 
attention to the exclusion of consideration of the cause. 

Why this sudden call to arms — this epoch-making warfare of Jap 
and Russ? What has stirred the slumbering fires of war, inherent in 
the human breast, and made Manchuria and Korea a reeking altar of 
human sacrifice to War? 

Russia's march to the pacific. 

The great white Czar has arrived on the Pacific. For years the 
world has had a nebulous vision of a grim, gray, militant figure loom- 
ing dimly upon the frozen shores of that ocean. Colossal though its 
proportions, its outlines were vague, indistinct, uncertain, indefinite. In 
a haze of arctic fogs it appeared merely a sentinel of the ice-locked har- 
bors of the distant Czar. Lately the silent specter has commanded the 
attention of the thinkers of the world, of diplomats, cabinets and men 

86 



J 



THE CAUSE OF THE WAR 87 

who train to march to death at the cannon's mouth. Russia the land- 
locked, Russia the feared, hated and despised, was slowly but surely 
sweeping aside the barriers imposed upon her at home by the powers 
of Europe, and with stealthy, noiseless tread was reaching its long- 
coveted goal — a free and open-all-year seaport. 

Incidentally, Russia was taking to herself a territory of tremendous 
expanse. The British lion, with inherited suspicion and traditional 
hatred, lashed himself in silent fury and ill-concealed apprehension. 
The other great European powers looked on in jealous awe, fearful of 
what the future held in store. Action remained for the pygmy of the 
nations— the little, ant-like Jap — to discover that his future was 
jeopardized by the encroachments of Russia. It requires no great 
stretch of the imagination, to reason that diplomatic counsel of the 
lion played no small part in determining the ant to rise, and smite the 
bear. However that may be, rise she did, smiting in darkness and by 
day — relentless, resourceful and tireless in her deadly, destructive 
energy. 

Russia's destiny lies eastward. 

Russia, since Rurik reorganized the pastoral communities which 
formed the nucleus of the huge autocracy, has obeyed what the Ger- 
mans appropriately express as the Drang nach Osten, an unconscious 
impulse to expand eastward, just as American civilization has moved 
in a constant westvv^ard direction. When the Muscovite was still a 
neglible quantity in European politics he crossed the Asiatic conti- 
nent and established himself on its northeast coast. His modern 
method of aggressive expansion dates from the time when occidental 
nations, the United States included, began to discuss earnestly the 
advisability of opening Japan. Count Muravief was appointed gover- 
nor-general of Siberia in 1848. Soon after his arrival he organized 
an expedition to explore the Amur region. This expedition came to 
grief, but, nothing daunted, he dispatched another better equipped. 
Upon its return and after reading the exhaustive report, the count 
hastened to St. Petersburg and came back with a free hand. 



88 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

From that time dates the modern Russian pohcy, at least so far as 
its Asiatic representatives are concerned. It has always remained the 
same unchanging program — a step eastward and southward and then 
another as soon as the great bear has caught its second breath. 

This policy encountered no check until it clashed with that of Japan. 
The ant, too, had ambitions and dreams of empire. Its field of destiny 
lay to the west. Somewhere and at some time the advance agents of 
Russian and Japanese civilization and absorption were bound to meet 
in positions diametrically opposed. The time and place have been 
reached. Hence, the war. 

THE REAL FIGHT OVER KOREA. 

To understand the cause of war, it must be remembered that Korea, 
not ]\Ianchuria, is the real object of the struggle. Russia needed that 
hapless peninsula, with its ice-free harbors, as an eastern outlet for her 
vast Trans-Siberian railway system, upon which she has spent nearly 
$500,000,000, and which is the key cf her power in IManchuria, the 
only means of developing the vast resources of Siberia. Japan wanted 
Korea because it is the only part of the Asiatic mainland to which her 
crowded island population and commerce can expand. Besides, the 
Korean people — about 10,000,000 in number, occupying 85,000 
square miles — are cowardly, inane and easy of conquest. 

When, years ago, united Europe, led by Great Britain, refused to 
allow Russia to occupy Constantinople and set the Sultan of Turkey 
as a guard over the entrance to the Black Sea — thus depriving Russia 
of the free naval use of her only southern or ice-free ports — Russia 
turned her face toward the far East and then began the building of 
that immense railway to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Ocean, which is 
transforming the green wastes of Siberia into wheat farms. But 
Vladivostok was a frozen port in winter. Russia needed an outlet 
in Asia beyond her southern frontier. Her statesmen picked out Port 
Lazareff, on the eastern shore of Korea, and Port Arthur, on the 
Liaotong Peninsula, Manchuria, as desirable harbors. Her diplomats 
began to work toward them. 



THE CAUSE OF THE WAR. 89 

Japan began to take notice. For years it had been her supreme am- 
bition to seize Korea and thus become a continental power. She was 
impatient of her island isolation. Not a foot of soil on the main- 
land belonged to her. With her flag flying over Korea — her nearest 
and weakest continental neighbor — she would have a right to partici- 
pate in what was then regarded as the impending collapse and division 
of the Chinese empire, or, perhaps, she might actually conquer and 
rule the whole of China. This dream was the inspiration of Japanese 
policy. 

The poor, weak, foolish Koreans — hermits for thousands of years 
— ^had for centuries crouched between China and Japan, acknowledg- 
ing each as their suzerain, anxious only to be let alone with their 
hermit civilization — hopelessly sunk in Buddhist abstractions and al- 
most incredible superstition. 

Ten years ago Japan had her first modern army and navy ready. 
It was a new toy, and the Japanese were eager to use it. Japan pro- 
voked a war with China in the summer of 1894. With an army of 
about 25,000 men she drove the Chinese out of Korea. With another 
army of about 23,000 men she invaded Manchuria, conquering the 
whole Liaotong Peninsula, including its two great military and naval 
strongholds. Port Arthur and Talienwan. China sued for peace, and, 
among other considerations, ceded to Japan the Liaotong Peninsula, 
with its magnificent forts and harbors. 

When Li Hung Chang was about to sign this treaty of Shimonoseki 
the Russian admiral, who was present, laid his naked sword on the 
document, and, in the name of Russia, forbade the treaty. It was 
signed, nevertheless. 

WAR OVER THE FRUITS OF WAR. 

Thereupon Russia, warmly supported by France and Germany — 
who regarded the presence of Japan on the Asiatic mainland as a 
menace to the peace of the world and the integrity of China — com- 
pelled Japan to relinquish her right to the Liaotong Peninsula. 

Japan protested, but submitted. That was a bitter experience, but 



90 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

there was a bitterer yet to come. After forcing the Japanese out of 
Manchuria, Russia, under a treaty with China, leased Port Arthur, 
built a branch of her Trans-Siberian railway to that port, and calmly 
took possession of the Liaotong Peninsula herself — the very territory 
from which she had expelled Japan only a short time before. The 
fury of Japan can hardly be expressed in words. 

Presently it became evident to the whole world that Russia was 
actually annexing the whole of Manchuria, a territory of 363,610 
square miles, with a population of 8,500,000 persons. Her soldiers and 
civil officers were in authority everywhere. Russia had agreed to 
maintain the "open door" — commercial equality with herself for all 
nations — in her future acquisition of territory in Asia. The United 
States, within a year of the opening of the Japanese-Russian war, in 
1903 requested her to withdraw her forces from Manchuria. She 
agreed but did not keep her agreement. 

Japan was aroused by signs of Russian influence in the Korean 
Peninsula, which extends southward from the Manchurian frontier. 
It was evident that Russia was slowly pushing her authority into the 
land of the hermits, the only part of the world into which the Japanese 
could expand, the territorial prize which they had been saving and 
coveting with greedy eyes for years. Russia craved the ice-free 
Korean ports. She was also anxious to avoid having an ambitious, 
restless military nation as a neighbor, such as Japan would prove. 

Japan called upon Russia to withdraw from Manchuria and she at- 
tempted to secure the military support of the United States and Great 
Britain in making the demand. In this she failed. Russia practically 
ignored her, and neither British nor American policy could go to the 
length of an armed alliance. Great Britain had allied herself by treaty 
wil^h Japan for the maintenance of the independence and integrity of 
China and Korea. But neither nation was to be called upon for armed 
assistance unless one or the other were attacked by two nations. 

ISSUE DEFINED BY JAPAN. 

Then Japan dropped her mask. She practically proposed to recog- 



THE CAUSE OF THE WAR. 91 

nize Russia In Manchuria if Russia would recognize Japan in Korea 
— each nation to maintain the commercial "open door" in its new 
' sphere of influence. Russia, which by this time had set Admiral 
Alexieff as her viceroy in Port Arthur, with power second only to the 
Czar himself, over all her possessions in the far East, offered to recog- 
nize Japan in the south of Korea while she herself would dominate the 
north of Korea. Japan refused to agree to this and repeated her de- 
mand, coupling it with a demand that Russia should give a guarantee 
— her promise being insufficient — for the future evacuation of Man- 
churia. Finally, weary of diplomatic delay and exasperated by the 
sight of Russian troops gathering on the northern frontier of Korea 
and the Russian fleet obviously preparing for war at Port Arthur, 
Japan broke off diplomatic relations with Russia Monday, Feb. 8, 1904. 
Hostilities began that night, when Japanese torpedo boats made a sud- 
den attack on the Russian squadron at Port Arthur, seriously damag- 
ing three ships and making their escape practically uninjured. 

"hermit" monarch has AMERICAN WIFE. 

Admitting possession of Korea as the real objective of the struggle, 
there was grotesque and gigantic humor in the fact that neither Russia 
nor Japan appeared to care what the Emperor of Korea or his people 
thought about the miatter. That unhappy and defenseless monarch, 
surrounded by hundreds of concubines — his wife being an American 
girl — sent forth a wailing appeal to the Christian powers of the 
world to save his country and his crown. 

America's relation to korea. 

A curious fact, too, was disclosed in the unique position of the 
United States — the first nation with which Korea negotiated a general 
treaty, opening her ports. We had incurred special obligations to pro- 
tect the peninsula. Here is a significant extract from the Korean- 
American treaty of 1882: 

"There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the Presi- 
dent of the United States and the King of Chosen (he was then King, 



92 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

and Chosen is the native name of Korea) and the citizens and subjects 
of their respective governments. If other powers deal unjustly or op- 
pressively with either government, the other will exert its good offices, 
on being informed of the case, to bring about an amicable arrangement, 
thus showing their friendly feelings." 

THE GREAT COMMISSARY QUESTION. 

The question of commissary supplies naturally played a great part 
in preparations for the campaign. The natives of Korea, fearing the 
exactions of officials, seldom raise more food than is necessary for their 
own support. Rice, black beans and millet represent their food- 
producing crops. There is little meat to be found anywhere. The 
rice-eating Japanese soldiers can always find partial subsistence in any 
land like Korea. Besides, Japan has a most wonderful way of trans- 
porting her military supplies of rice and dried fish on the backs of men 
and in little push-carts, a quartermaster method wholly unknown to the 
Russian army. Most of the country is rough and roadless, so that it 
is difficult for wagon trains to pass over it. This proved in advance 
plans a serious matter for the heavily equipped and clumsy quarter- 
master system of Russia. Nor could the Russian soldiers find their 
accustomed food in such a country, being therefore forced to carry 
their supplies with them. 

LANGUAGE DIFFICULTY. 

The difficulty of language was another important point for consid- 
eration. There is not the slightest similarity between the Korean 
tongue, written or spoken, and the language of Russia. That would 
make it hard for a Russian general to use ihe natives for the purpose 
of gaining information, either of the country or the enemy. The 
Japanese and Koreans use virtually the same written langauge, al- 
though the spoken language is entirely different and they cannot un- 
derstand each other orally. In the war between China and Japan the 
Japanese constantly made use of the natives as spies and guides. 



CHAPTER VI. 
NO ROOM FOR BOTH IN KOREA. 

Either Japan or Russia Had to Leave — Russia's Manchuria Promises — Russia 
Threatens Korea — Why Japan Defends It — ^What Does Russia Want of 
Korea? 

THE primary cause of the Japanese-Russian war was the Chino- 
Japanese war, as already set forth. It will be remembered 
that little Japan startled the whole world with the quickness 
and strength of her blows against the moribund Chinese empire. She 
swept all before her and fully expected to reap her reward by annexing 
certain of the choice territory of China. Her "reward" consisted of 
holding a few second-rate war vessels and the island of Formosa. 

After that war Russia perpetrated one of the most colossal acces- 
sions of territory in history. Briefly, the facts are these: In 1895 
Russia compelled Japan to give up Port Arthur, which controls the 
gateway to Pekin, Manchuria and Mongolia. In 1897 Russia secured 
Port Arthur for her own. Three years later the Great Bear got a foot- 
hold in Manchuria, which covers 363,610 square miles, and has a 
population of 8,500,000. The Boxer uprising, which Japan declares 
was fomented by Russia for the purpose of making this hold more cer- 
tain, followed in the next year. Of course, Russia poured into the dis- 
trict protective troops to the number of nearly 100,000. This, Russia 
said, was to protect her Siberian railway and her interests along its 

route. 

Russia's manchuria promises. 

At the end of that same year Russia obtained from China exclusive 

93 



94 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

trading rights in Manchuria, and in 1902 further rights were ceded 
on the promise that Russia would evacuate the province within eighteen 
months. This Russia rekictantly agreed to do, but never did. 
lation as among the leaders. Months before the opening of hostilities 
in the negotiations preceding the Boer war, or as we of the United 
great colonial possessions — an important part, indeed, but still only a 

A year before the war, Russia announced that she would not 
evacuate Manchuria unless some more exclusive rights were given — 
practically amounting to sovereignty, in the interests of the great rail- 
road she had built. Although Russia had gone on record that she 
would keep her promise, especially to Secretary Hay, she still refused 
and China w^as told that the Russian troops would continue to hold 
all the important points in Manchuria until the demands were acceded 
to. The United States, Great Britain and Japan combined to hold 
China firm in her refusal, and succeeded. Russia poured more troops 
in until her railway was completely defended along its entire route. 

Russia at last made a promise to the world that she would evacuate 
Manchuria, on October 8, 1903, if she got some Special privileges from 
China, w^hich she deemed essential to her gigantic investments. These 
were not so stringent as her former demands, but were denied by 
China, backed as she was by three great powers. The incoming troops 
and the fortifications going up caused China to protest against this 
aggression, but more troops and more fortifications was the answer. 

RUSSIA THREATENS KOREA. 

The situation was then acute, but the climax came when Russia 
moved over to the Yalu river, dividing Manchuria and Korea, and 
built fortifications and established armed camps. This clearly was a 
move to shut Japan from the continent. Japan always has considered 
Korea as under her especial protection, and has yearned to develop 
westward. Japanese interests in Korea are far greater than those of 
any other country, and the Japs practically run the commercial inter- 
ests there, although the biggest enterprises are under American con- 
trol. 



NO ROOM FOR BOTH IN KOREA. 95 

Why should Japan want Korea, save for exploitation ? 

Japan is composed of many islands jutting out from the Korean 
coast, the nearest point between the two countries being some sixty 
odd miles and only 150 miles between Korea and the main island of 
Japan. The area of Japan (including Formosa) is 162,000 square 
miles, and its population is 47,000,000. Here is a country the size 
of California, that state having a population of only 1,300,000. The 
density of Japan's population is nearly 300 per square mile, or, in other 
words, Japan is like a huge and continuous village in American rural 
districts, spreading over all its land. 

Every inch of Japanese soil is utilized and were the people like 
Americans, requiring a diversity and immensity of food products, they 
could not live. As it is, Japan is a big importer of food products. Its 
busy artisans export $115,000,000 worth of material each year, while 
its imports are about $2,000,000 in excess of the foregoing figures. 

The fecundity of the Japs is well known, and it is imperative that 
more land be obtained. Already more than 1,000,000 of them live 
in Korea, China and the United States. Korea is large enough and 
sparsely settled enough to provide for 25,000,000 souls, living as they 
do in Japan. 

The clash between Russia and Japan had been fermenting for nearly 
ten years. When the Powers of Europe interfered in the Chino- Japan 
war, and at its close insisted that Port Arthur, the key to Northern 
China, remain temporarily in the hands of the Russians, the^ seeds 
of strife and discord were sown that bore the fruits of war. 

Nor is this surprising, for by right of conquest that most important 
post belonged certainly to Japan, and diplomatists have since asserted 
that European interference was due to the skill of Russian statecraft, 
and that the realm of the Czar alone profited by the intermeddling. 

But even more important than the necessity of yielding to another 
the fruits of her victory in 1894, Japan's attitude in the far East has 
a deeper significance than any one episode could account for. She of 
all the Oriental nations is powerfully and keenly alive to the great 



96 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

events of the last few years. Just verging into the strength of national 
manhood, she reahzes the importance of her position among her dec- 
adent neighbors. More nearly akin is she to the Chinese and the 
Koreans, and more clearly does she understand them than do the 
picked diplomats of any European country, not even excepting Russia. 
Ever since she has become a world power she has cherished a plan for 
the rejuvenation of both China and Korea under her fostering guid- 
ance, and every time circumstances seemed to conspire toward a real- 
ization of this ambition combined Europe has thwarted her. 

NO ROOM FOR BOTH. 

Justly or not, she has attributed this to the machinations of tHe 
agents of the Great White Bear at St. Petersburg, busily engaged in 
fortifying her hard-won Port Arthur, and making permanent the oc- 
cupation of Manchuria, while the Czar repeatedly assured her it was 
only temporary. Such is Japan's view of the Russians' advance along 
China's northern frontier. 

Nor is this all. Korea, like China, is a decadent country whose na- 
tional existence is scarcely more than nominal. For years foreign 
influences have directed her destinies, but racial and geographical pre- 
dilections incline her naturally to Japanese leadership. For these rea- 
sons the Japs have dominated Korean affairs to a greater extent than 
any outside nation. In self-defense it is almost imperative that she 
continue to do so, for with a friendly Korea she has an opening 
upon the continent of Asia and a check upon the encroachments of the 
Russians. 

But Korea is a peninsula, bounded upon almost all her land frontier 
by that part of Manchuria in which the Russians are predominant, and 
in all countries— Asiatic, European and American — boundary lines 
have ever been a fruitful subject for contention, especially between 
two nations, each jealous of the other, and each candidly covetous of 
the land the boundaries define. 

Two such aggressive and mutually jealous nations could not operate 
side by side without friction, so the world was not surprised when it 




PORT ARTHUR, WHERE THE WAR OPENED. 



(66) 











A NEAR VIEW OF PORT ARTHUR'S DOCKYARD. 



(67) 




^'^"" 










2?<'>-::^ifV 



\ hO 






POSITION OF ARMIES AND NAVIES AT OPENING OF THE WAR. (45) 



.-'LiiiMd^ijiLaA 





MM -1 MWl • 






¥t 



';/ r 






1 ^^.o«^t^/ 



>-. 






'-J^x-olSiSi 






CHIEF CENTERS OF INTEREST AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. (46) 



\ 


% 


7A, 


o 


■\ ' 
'1 

.- L] ' 




-'■, 


1 




/v 


"jii'^y 










# 










sM.v:^ , 











JAPANESE-RUSSIAN DISTANCES IN THE WAR FIELD. 

From Port Arthur as a center, circles are drawn on the above map, one hundred miles 
apart, so that the reader may realize what a large battlefield was fought over in the opening 
stages of the war. (47) 



VH ». V 






Coin 



THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF JAPAN AND RUSSIA, 



(48; 



LefC. 




RUSSIAN NAVAL BASES AND PORTS. 



(68) 



i WL<^>j!si«vq-,>!.rrA\ 





'y.O'R: 



v-V^ 



J M'A 



"■'■'^!.;r.,.' ,.•■<-. ' 



//'V/'S ^ '/'' ,.l/A\P':\',, 







JAPANESE NAVAL BASES AND PORTS. 



(69) 




JAPANESE TYPES OF ALL ARMS. 



(49, 




JAPANESE INFANTRY IN SUMMER AND WINTER. 



(50) 




JAPANESE MILITIAMAN AND MILITARY POLICE. 



(51) 




JAPANESE SOLDIERS AND INDIAN GURKHA. 



(52) 




JAPANESE INFANTRY IN VARIOUS UNIFORMS. 



(53) 



i.K-t msmijw 










JAPANESE CAVALRY IN SUMMER AND WINTER. 




TYPES OF JAPANESE INFANTRY. 



(55) 




JAPANESE INFANTRY, INCLUDING KHAKI UNIFORM. 



(SO) 




PACK CAMELS IN SIBERIA. 

In many parts of Siberia the merchants use camels as pack aaimals to transport their 
goods to the market towns. The animals withstand the cold well, and are good travelers 



in the enow. 



;63) 




RUSSIAN TROOPS IN A MANCHURIAN CAMP. 

The advance of the Russian troops to the Yalu River, in midwinter, was accompanied 
by terrible hardships. This picture shows them in a temporary encampment. (70) 




THE CZAR, CZARINA, AND FAMILY. 

This might be the picture of an intelligent, serious-minded German family, but it is that 
of Nicholas II, autocrat of all the Russias, and his consort, the Czarina, formerly Princess 
Alice, of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the daughter of Princess Alice, of Great Britain, with their 
four daughters. (78) 




COUNT LEO TOLSTOI, RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN AND PHILOSOPHER. 

A STRIKING portrait of the Russian nobleman, novslist, and moral philosopher, who for 
years has fought for peasant and laborer, as against despotism, and who donated the pro- 
ceeds of 1,000 sets of his works to support his country in the Russian -Japanese War. (6?J^) 




JAPANESE MINISTER TO GREAT BRITAIN, BARON HAYASHI. 

Japan's representative at the Court of St. James was considered one of the leading 
omats of the East, it being considered especially important that the Island Empire of the 



dipli - „ . . - 

East should maintain its close relations with the Island Empire of the West. 



(81) 




GUARDING RUSSIAN INTERESTS" AT MUKDEN. 

At the solicitation chiefly of the United States and Great Britain, Mukden, the capital 
of Manchuria, shortly before the war, was declared by China an open port. A strong Rus- 
sian force is seen entering the capital "to guard Russian interests." (13^ 




RUSSIAN SAILORS MOBBED BY KOREANS AT S£OUL. 

While the Russian consul and navvies were making hasty preparations to leave the 
Korean capital, the feelings of the usually placid natives were wrought up to such a pitch 
that the subjects of the Czar were often hustled rudely through the streets, despite the pro- 
tection which Japanese officials tried to afford them. (42) 




UNLOADING JAPANESE PONIES. 



The cavalry of the Mikado's army were mounted on small, hardy Japanese ponies. 
They were full of life and fire, not unlike the Japanese themselves. (84) 




RUSSIAN ARTILLERY PLUNGING THROUGH MANCHURIA. 

The moving of the Russian artillery through Manchuria to the Yalu River, in the 
dead of winter, was one of tne terrific feats accomplished by the army of the Czar. The 
terrific part of the task in this case fell on the horses. (74) 



NO ROOM FOR BOTH IN KOREA. 113 

learned that diplomatic correspondence had passed between Japan and 
Russia leading naturally to war in the far East unless one or the other 
abandoned a policy it had followed for years and to which it stood 
firmly committed. It is not known what various turns this tedious 
correspondence took, handled, as it was, by men understanding well 
the value of secrecy in state affairs. Every answer, every note, every 
ultimatum was the forerunner of myriads of prophecies of war, while 
the civilized world waited impatiently praying for peace. 

Peace, however, was not to result. The opposing interests of the 
contending nations were too close together, too extensive and far too 
intimately wedded to the future of -both countries to enable either to 
recede until driven back by superior force. As a matter of fact, the 
far East is too small to gratify the ambitions of both nations. To 
recede was not a part of Russia's policy, and to Japan the points at is- 
sue seemed to threaten her position as a power in the Orient, if not 
eventually her very independence, unless she boldly asserted herself 
and battled for her principles. 

To Russia this has been a long, slow waiting game ; to Japan it has 
seemed an enterprise demanding progressive acquisition. Delay has 
ever been the policy of the Great White Bear, a delay during w^hich 
her grasp has strengthened. Japan appreciated this, hence the im- 
patience at Russia's dilatory tactics. She knew that an immense popu- 
lation accompanied by correspondingly great resources backed up the 
slow, stolid, sturdy men from the North, and she long appreciated 
the fact that to dislodge them from their already firmly intrenched po- 
sition she must act with audacity and dispatch. 

This feeling was as firmly rooted in the minds of the Japanese popu- 
lation as among her leaders. Months before the opening of hostilities 
the populace of the Flowery Kingdom clamored for war, while the 
citizens of St. Petersburg and Moscow went about their daily business, 
reading of the far Eastern outlook with some enthusiasm, it is true, 
but with such vague, indefinite interest as the Londoners manifested 
in the negotiations preceding the Boer War, or as we of the United 
States received the spasmodic escapades of Aguinaldo in the Philip- 



114 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

pines. In short, Japan was on the scene. Her interests were near at 
home, and her people felt that they were fighting for their country's 
national existence, while, on the other hand, the Russians, nearly 
10,000 miles away, viewed the conflict as a part of the annoyances of 
great colonial possessions — an important fact, indeed, but still only a 
part. 

WHAT DOES RUSSIA WANT OF KOREA? 

The master minds — and for ages the highest Russian ministers have 
been such — who planned that gigantic undertaking, the Trans-Siberian 
railway, probably mapped out, step by step, the movements that have 
followed. Page after page might be covered with interesting narra- 
tives of this great project, for it certainly is one of the greatest things 
ever attempted in the world's history, including as it does the various 
ramifications into diplomacy, conquest and commercial activity, both 
on land and sea. 

The great railway is a fact ; it extends from St. Petersburg across 
the plains of Russia, over the mountains, through the dense forests and 
over the rolling steppes of drear Siberia ; over gorges, around morasses, 
'Crossing rivers and lakes, winding through Manchuria to cover the best 
land, and circling at its extreme eastern end in order to cover the sum- 
mer port of Vladivostok and the winter port of Port Arthur, and thus 
reaches the tributaries of the great Pacific. 

An answer may be found in the declaration of an American states- 
man that Russians count time by centuries, not by days. Their em- 
pire is not fitted to support a very great population, but still they now 
have enough room and to spare. But the Russians, counting time by 
centuries, not by days, months and weeks, are always figuring up the 
future. They have a population now of 140,000,000, or more than 
one-twelfth of all the people in the world. They are growing by the 
natural process of reproduction at the rate of 3,000,000 a year. With- 
out taking into consideration the increase by geometrical ratio, in ten 
years there will be 170,000,000 Russians, and in fifty years there will 
be 300,000,000. Indeed, the Czar will need more than Manchuria to 
house them. 



NO ROOM FOR BOTH IN KOREA. 



115 



Korea is like the hind leg of a rabbit, with Vladivostok at its top 
and Port Arthur at the gambrel joint, and the most important part 
of Japan at the toe. The broad and deep Yalu river separates Man- 
churia from Korea. The Russians found the Yalu river necessary to 
them. Vladivostok is isolated from the main terminus of the great 
Siberian railway. The coast line of Korea, intervening between 
Vladivostok and Port Arthur, if Russian, would make the Czar supreme 
on the western side of the Pacific. If Japanese, it would menace the 
usefulness and military and naval value of both great ports. 

Such are the stakes that tempted bear and ant to the desperate game 
of war — such the issues left for battle to determine. 




American Interests enough for Uncle Sam, 



CHAPTER VII. 
NEUTRALITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The President's Proclamation — Warning to the Citizens of the United States — 
Rights of Belligerents — Occupancy of Posts — Rights of Neutrals at Sea — 
Misconduct at Peril. 

SCARCE had the report of the nocturnal onslaught upon Port 
Arthur reached the startled world before the United States de- 
clared its neutral stand in the great struggle in the far East. 
There was ample reason for this seeming haste. 

DIVISION OF SENTIMENT. 

At home feeling ran high. There was a marked division of senti- 
ment. The average American, always with the "little fellow" in a 
fight, hastily declared himself favorable to Japan. Many deep think- 
ers were equally emphatic in expressing marked sympathy for Russia. 

Russia's aid to the cause of the Union during the Civil War was not 
entirely forgotten. Another reason for pro-Russian sympathy lay 
in the dread with which the so-called "yellow peril" was viewed by 
man. 

Greater than all other considerations, however, was the possibility of 
misuse of American ports near the scene of hostilities. While the 
organization of military companies or privateering expeditions at home 
was only a remote possibility there was reason to fear for complica- 
tions in the far-off Philippines — for it could not be overlooked that 
the United States was a great power in the Pacific with a mighty 

empire close to the scene of war. 

ii6 



NEUTRALITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 

Two days after the first shot President Roosevelt had promulgated 
a proclamation declaring the neutrality of the United States govern- 
ment in no uncertain terms. Both as a state document of interest and 
as a code of instructions governing the rights of citizens in the premises 
it is well worthy of careful perusal. 

By the President of the United States of America : 

A PROCLAMATION : 

Whereas, a state of war unhappily exists between Japan, on the 
one side, and Russia, on the other side ; 

And whereas, the United States are on terms of friendship and 
amity with both the contending powers and with the persons inhabiting 
their several dominions ; 

And whereas, there are citizens of the United States residing within 
the territories or dominions of each of the said belligerents and carry- 
ing on commerce, trade, or other business or pursuits therein, pro- 
tected by the faith of treaties; 

And whereas, there are subjects of eash of the said belligerents resid- 
ing within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States and carry- 
ing on commerce, trade, or other business or pursuits therein ; 

And whereas, the laws of the United States, without interfering with 
the free expression of opinion and sympathy, or with the open manu- 
facture or sale of arms or munitions of war, nevertheless impose upon 
all persons who may be within their territory and jurisdiction the duty 
of an impartial neutrality during the existence of the contest; 

And whereas, it is the duty of a neutral government not to permit 
or suffer the making of its waters subservient to the Durposes of war; 

WARNING TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Now, therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United 
States of America, in order to preserve the neutrality of the United 
States and of their citizens and of persons within their territory and 
jurisdiction, and to enforce their laws, and in order that all persons, 
being warned of the general tenor of the laws and treaties of the United 



ii8 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

States in this behalf, and of the law of nations, may thus be prevented 
from an unintentional violation of the same, do hereby declare and 
proclaim that by the act passed on the 20th day of April, A. D., 18 18 
commonly known as the "neutrality law," the following acts are for 
bidden to be done, under severe penalties, within the territory and juris- 
diction of the United States, to wit : 

1. Accepting and exercising a commission to serve either of the 
said belligerents by land or by sea against the other belligerent. 

2. Enlisting or entering into the service of either of the said bel- 
ligerents as a soldier or as a marine or seaman on board of any vessel 
of war, letter of marque or privateer. 

3. Hiring or retaining another person to enlist or enter himself 
in the service of either of the said belligerents as a soldier or as a 
marine or seaman on board of any vessel of war, letter of marque or 
privateer. 

4. Hiring another person to go beyond the limits of jurisdiction 
of the United States w^ith intent to be enlisted as aforesaid. 

5. Hiring another person to go beyond the limits of the United 
States with intent to be entered into service as aforesaid. 

RIGHT OF BELLIGERENTS. 

6. Retaining another person to go beyond the limits of the United 
States with intent to be enlisted as aforesaid. 

7. Retaining another person to go beyond the limits of the United 
States to be entered into service as aforesaid. (But the said act is not 
to be construed to extend to a citizen of either belligerent who, being 
transiently within the United States, shall, on board of any vessel of 
war, which, at the time of its arrival within the United States, was 
fitted and equipped as such vessel of war, enlist or enter himself or hire 
or retain another subject or citizen of the same belligerent, who is tran- 
siently within the United States, to enlist or enter himself to serve such 
belligerent on board such vessel of war, if the United States shall then 
be at peace with such belligerent.) 

8. Fitting out and arming, or attempting to fit out and arm, or 



NEUTRALITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 119 

procuring to be fitted out and armed, or knowingly being concerned 
in the furnishing, fitting out or arming of any ship or vessel with 
intent that such ship or vessel shall be employed in the service of either 
of the belligerents. 

9. Issuing or delivering a commission within the territory or juris- 
diction of the United States for any ship or vessel to the intent that 
she may be employed as aforesaid. 

AFFECTING SHIPS OF WAR. 

10. Increasing or augmenting, or procuring to be increased or 
augmented, or knowingly being concerned in increasing or augment- 
ing, the force of any ship of war, cruiser or other armed vessel, which 
at the time of her arrival within the United States was a ship of war, 
cruiser or armed vessel in the service of either of the said belligerents, 
or belonging to the subjects of either, by adding to the number of guns 
of such vessels, or by changing those on board of her for guns of a 
larger calibre, or by the addition thereto of any equipment solely 
applicable to war. 

11. Beginning or setting on foot or providing or preparing the 
means for any military expedition or enterprise to be carried on from 
the territory or jurisdiction of the United States against the territory 
or dominions of either of the said belligerents. 

And I do hereby further declare and proclaim that any frequenting 
and use of the waters within the territorial jurisdiction of the United 
States by the vessels of either belligerent, whether public ships or priva- 
teers for the purpose of preparing for hostile operations, or as posts 
of observation upon the ships of war or privateers or merchant vessels 
of the other belligerent lying within or being about to enter the juris- 
diction of the United States, must be regarded as unfriendly and 
offensive, and in violation of that neutrality which it is the determina- 
tion of this government to observe ; 

And to the end that the hazard and inconvenience of such appre- 
hended practices may be avoided, I further proclaim and declare that 



120 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

from and after the 1 5th day of February instant, and during the con- 
tinuance of the present hostihties between Japan and Russia, no 
ship of war or privateer of either belligerent shall be premitted to make 
use of any port, harbor, roadstead, or waters subject to the jurisdiction 
of the United States from which a vessel of the other belligerent 
(whether the same shall be a ship of war, a privateer, or a merchant 
ship) shall have previously departed until after the expiration of at 
least twenty-four hours from the departure of such last mentioned 
vessel beyond the jurisdiction of the United States. 

OCCUPANCY OF PORTS. 

If any ship of war or privateer of either belligerent shall, after the 
time of this notification takes effect, enter any port, harbor, roadstead, 
or waters of the United States, such vessel shall be required to depart 
and to put to sea within twenty-four hours after her entrance into such 
port, harbor, roadstead, or waters, except in case of stress of weather or 
of her requiring provisions or things necessary for the subsistence of 
her crews, or for repairs; in either of which cases the authorities of the 
port or of the nearest port (as the case may be) shall require her to 
put to sea as soon as possible after the expiration of such period of 
twenty-four hours, without permittipg her to take in supplies beyond 
what may be necessary for her immediate use. 

And no such vessel which may have been permitted to remain within 
the waters of the United States for the purpose of repair shall con- 
tinue within such port, harbor, roadstead or waters for a longer period 
than twenty-four hours after her necessary repairs shall have been 
completed unless within such twenty-four hours a vessel, whether ship 
of war, privateer or merchant ship of the other belligerent, shall have 
departed therefrom, in which case the time limited for the departure of 
such ship of war or privateer shall be extended so far as may be neces- 
sary to secure an interval of not less than twenty-four hours between 
such departure and that of any ship of war, privateer or merchant ship 
of the other belligerent which may have previously quit the same port, 
harbor, roadstead or waters. 



NEUTRALITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 

No ship of war or privateer of either belHgerent shall be detained 
in any port, harbor, roadstead or waters of the United States more 
than twenty-four hours, by reason of the successive departures from 
such port, harbor, roadstead or waters of more than one vessel of the 
other belligerent. But if there be several vessels of each or either of 
the two belligerents in the same port, harbor, roadstead or waters, the 
order of their departure therefrom shall be so arranged as to afford the 
opportunity of leaving alternately to the vessels of the respective bel- 
ligerents, and to cause the least detention consistent with the objects 
of this proclamation. 

No ship of war or privateer of either belligerent shall be permitted, 
while in any port, harbor, roadstead or waters within the jurisdiction 
of the United States, to take in any supplies except provisions and such 
other things as may be requisite for the sustenance of her crew and 
except so much coal only as may be sufficient to carry such vessel, if 
without any sail power, to the nearest port of her own country ; or in 
case the vessel is rigged to go under sail, and may also be propelled 
by steam power, then with half the quantity of coal which she would 
be entitled to receive if dependent upon steam alone, and no coal shall 
be again supplied to any such ship of war or privateer in the same or 
any other port, harbor, roadstead or waters of the United States, with- 
out special permission, until after the expiration of three months from 
the time when such coal may have been last supplied to her within 
the waters of the United States, unless such ship of war or privateer 
shall, since last thus supplied, have entered a port of the government to 
which she belongs. 

RIGHTS OF NEUTRALS AT SEA. 

And I further declare and proclaim that by the first article of the 
convention as to rights of neutrals at sea, which was concluded between 
the United States of America and his Majesty the Emperor of all the 
Russias, on the 22d day of July, A. D. 1854, the following principles 
were recognized as permanent and immutable, to wit : 

I. That free ships make free goods, that is to say that the effects 



122 ■ THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

or goods belonging to subjects or citizens of a power or State at war 
are free from capture and confiscation when found on board of neutral 
vessels, with the exception of articles of contraband of war. 

2. That the property of neutrals on board an enemy's vessel is not 
subject to confiscation, unless the same be contraband of war. 

And I do further declare and proclaim that the statutes of the United 
States and the law of nations alike require that no person, within the 
territory and jurisdiction of the United States, shall take part, directly 
or indirectly, in the said war, but shall remain at peace with each of 
the said belligerents, and shall maintain a strict and impartial neu- 
trality, and that whatever privileges shall be accorded to one belligerent 
within the ports of the United States shall be, in like manner, accorded 
to the other. 

And I do hereby enjoin all the good citizens of the United States, 
and all persons residing or being within the territory or jurisdiction of 
the United States, to observe the laws thereof and to commit no act 
contrary to the provisions of the said statutes, or in violation of the 
law of nations in that behalf. 

And I do hereby warn all citizens of the United States, and all per- 
sons residing or being within their territory or jurisdiction, that, while 
the free and full expression of sympathies in public and private is not 
restricted by the laws of the United States, military forces in aid of 
either belligerent cannot lawfully be originated or organized within 
their jurisdiction; and that while all persons may lawfully and without 
restriction by reason of the aforesaid state of war, manufacture and 
sell within the United States arms and munitions of war, and other 
articles ordinarily known as "contraband of war," yet they cannot 
carry such articles upon the high seas for the use or service of either 
belHgerent, nor can they transport soldiers and officers of either, or 
attempt to break any blockade which may be lawfully established and 
maintained during the war, without incurring the risk of hostile cap- 
ture and the penalties denounced by the law of nations in that behalf. 

And I do hereby give notice that all citizens of the United States 



NEUTRALITY OF THE UNTTED STATES, 



123 



and others who may claim the protection of this government, who may 
misconduct themselves in the premises, will do so at their peril, and 
that they can in no wise obtain any protection from the government 
of the United States against the consequences of their misconduct. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington, this nth day of February, in the 
year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and four, and of the 
independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-eighth. 

Theodore Roosevelt. 
By the President: 

John Hay, Secretary of State. 




MR. WHEAT— "This war ain't so bad for some of us." 



CHAPTER VIII. 
STORY OF JAPAN AND HER EMPEROR. 

Early Contact with the World — Martyrdom for Missionaries — Terrible Slaughter of 
Christians — First American Visitors — Rough Sea-Dog's Diplomatic Victory — 
Emperor Asserts Himself. 

CONTRASTING strangely with the ponderous and painful 
struggle of Russia to attain its present development, Japan 
nestles in its island kingdom, a veritable national mushroom. 
Like that fungus growth, it matured in a day. But, like Russia, 
it has a dark and bloody past. How it threw that past aside and 
stepped forth in an hour, almost, from the darkness of ages of heathen 
seclusion, a modern world power, is a marvel to the nations. 

JAPAN FIFTY YEARS AGO. 

Fifty years ago a leading historian frankly wrote of Japan : 
"We are very little acquainted with the geographical divisions of 
Japan, and, with one or two exceptions we know little more of its 
cities than their names." , 

This was literally true, and was due to the strict exclusion main- 
tained against foreigners due to religious prejudice and fear of national 
annihilation. At that time and long before, the history of the islands 
was an open book to the world. 

EARLY CONTACT WITH THE WORLD. 

In 1542 several Portuguese were wrecked in Japan and were favor- 
ably received. Seven years later Xavier landed with two companions 
and a shipwrecked Jap he had converted. He was permitted to preach 

the gospel, and gained many converts. In 1559, seven years after his 

124 



STORY OF JAPAN AND HER EMPEROR. 125 

death, another Jesuit converted many nobles, and Christian churches 
and proselytes became very numerous. In 1583 three young Japs 
were sent to do homage to the Pope, and were royally entertained 
at the court of Philip II. 

MARTYRDOM FOR MISSIONARIES. 

When Taiko assumed the office of Cubo he became suspicious of 
Europeans, and in 1578 razed every cross and church, drove the mis- 
sionaries into hiding, and executed a number of Christians. Perse- 
cution was revived several years later, when a Spanish sailor sought to 
intimidate the Japs by telling them Spanish soldiers followed in the 
wake of priests. Twenty-six priests were martyred in one day as a 
result. Still the wily Japs v/hile resenting foreign intrusion invited 
trade because of the big profits to be made. 

For many years the boiling crater of Mount Unga was a common 
instrument of death for Christians. The Spanish were absolutely ex- 
cluded as a nation, while the Portuguese were allowed to trade under 
marked restrictions at Nagasaki and the Dutch at Firando. Discovery 
-of an alleged conspiracy among tlie native Christians and the Portu- 
guese resulted in a campaign of extermination by the sword. Thirty- 
eight thousand Christians flew to arms and fortified themselves. An 
army of 80,000 men were sent against them, aided by a detachment 
of Dutch with cannon. 

TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER OF CHRISTIANS. 

No words can adequately describe the awful slaughter that followed. 
Four citizens of Macao, sent to Japan to plead for the Catholics, were 
put to death, and their ship burned. On their tomb was inscribed : 

"So long as the sun shall warm the earth, let no Christian be so bold 
as to come to Japan ; and let all know that the King of Spain himself, 
or the Christian's God, or the great Saca, if he violate this command, 
shall pay for it with his head." 

From that time until the opening of Japan the Dutch enjoyed exclu- 
sive trading privileges and were allowed to conduct a factory at Jeddo. 



126 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

In 1836 an American expedition was sent to Japan with a number 
of shipwrecked Japanese sailors to be restored to their island home. 
Even that evidence of good faith failed to secure a hearing, and the 
vessel, the unarmed brig Morrison, was fired upon by a battery hastily 
assembled on shore. The expedition was compelled to return without? 
restoring the Japs to their country, much less attempting to open com- 
mercial relations with the warlike Japs. 

COMMERCIAL AWAKENING BY PERRY. 

Fifty-two years ago, in 1852, the United States government suc- 
ceeded in that purpose through an expedition of seven ships under 
Commodore Perry. From that moment dates the commercial awaken- 
ing of Japan and its wonderful progress of evolution. What a marvel- 
ous transformation has been worked in that half century, bringing 
Japan from its position among the isolated and decadent heathen 
nations to front rank among the world powers. 

ROUGH sea-dog's DIPLOMATIC VICTORY. 

And for all this America is given full credit, by the Japs and by 
all the world. To a rough sea-dog, a plain American naval officer of 
rugged, straight-forward honesty, fell the plum that European diplo- 
mats struggled vainly for through decades. 

THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN. 

Mutsuhito, the Emperor of Japan, is 52 years of age, and has occu- 
pied the throne since his fifteenth year. He is of a dynasty described 
in the Japanese Constitution as "a line of Emperors unbroken for ages 
eternal," and does not hesitate to reckon his ancestry back beyond the 
days of early Rome. Such is the Japanese tradition. 

The Emperor is not the Mikado of Japan. That term has long 
been obsolete in the Flowery Kingdom. In fact, the very revolution 
that abolished the old religious title also gave Japan the opportunity for 
progress and development she so eagerly grasped. 

Mutsuhito was the second son of Emperor Komel, and at 8 years 
of age was chosen the heir apparent to the throne, not because his 



STORY OF JAPAN AND HER EMPEROR. 127 

father wished it to be so, but because the Shoguns, who in the reigns 
of weak Mikados had relegated the Emperor to the empty honor of 
being the sacerdotal head of the national religion, and these Shoguns, 
powerful as were the Masters of the Palace in old Prankish days, in 
this instance believed that the excellent disposition of the young Mutsu- 
hito naturally fitted him for the life of a religious recluse. This an- 
ticipation they never realized, for rebellion followed their long misrule. 

In 1867 Emperor Komel died and the present ruler ascended the 
throne. He threw himself earnestly into the reform movement, and, 
aided by loyal subjects, not only established himself firmly upon his 
throne as the real ruler of Japan, but broke the power of the old no- 
bility. 

This was the first step toward the modernizing of Japan. Every- 
thing that has followed has been the direct result of it. During the 
reign of one man still living and only 52 years of age, this people has 
risen from barbarism to a place among the great powers of the world, 
and this is due to the fact that their Emperor is not the Mikado his 
forefathers had been, for Mutsuhito was not content to be a religious 
figurehead. He appreciated the needs of his country and keen intel- 
ligence the old nobility would gladly have had him devote to pious 
m.editations taught him the value of the loyal men who had aided him 
to regain his lost prerogatives. Aided by them he set to work to 
liberalize his government. 

EMPEROR ASSERTS HIMSELF. 

This was no easy task, for wholesale liberty suddenly granted to a 
people accustomed to despotism only leads to reactions worse than 
the evils it is intended to supplant. Instead of this the old despot- 
ism faded away gradually. Privilege after privilege was granted as 
the enlightenment of the people fitted them for it, until at last in 1889 
a constitution was promulgated, which gives the Japanese as great a 
degree of personal liberty and as great a share in the national govern- 
ment as the subjects are allowed in almost any European constitu- 
tional monarchy. 



128 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

The revolution that made possible the present monarch's reforms 
is easily traceable to a quickening of the Japanese mind following con- 
tact with Americans and Europeans. It was a revolution of thought, 
system and principles, as well as a political upheaval. This is evident 
by a review of the Jap and his early history. 

The Emperor was married two years after his coronation to one of 
the princesses of his race. She is an excellent woman, of whose ac- 
complishments, charity and benevolence the Japanese boast. This 
Empress, Haruko, is also a poet, whose verses Japanese students 
declare have a delicate charm that is beautiful. Translated into Eng- 
lish, they prove her to be a woman of gentle, lovely spirit. 

The Emperor of Japan is personally just what the Shoguns of the 
old days took him to be — a mild-mannered, gentle-spirited man of 
lofty ideals, well suited for a religious life. He is beloved by his peo- 
ple quite as much because of this as because he gave them liberty and 
civilization; quite as much because of the schools and colleges his 
progressive government has established as the battleships and for- 
tresses that protect their land from invasion, and there can be no doubt 
of the loyalty of the Japanese to their first great Emperor. 

The Emperor of Japan has one great consolation that has as yet 
been denied his present enemy, the Czar of Russia; he has a son, 
now grown to manhood and himself a father. Of this so-^ much that 
is commendable has been said. He has been educated both at home 
and abroad, and Emperor jMutsuhito feels that when his life's work is 
done a worthy successor will perpetuate the "line of Emperors un- 
broken for ages eternal." 



CHAPTER IX. 
STORY OF JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE. 

Revelled in Sickening Cruelty — Lost Like Spanish Armada — Gigantic Japanese 
Wrestlers— The Land of Upside-Down— Early Bloody War in Korea— The 
Soldier an Aristocrat. 

RIMARILY the Jap is a transplanted Chinaman, who has ex- 
perienced a transition similar to that of our people, who trace 
their ancestry to England. The primitive history of the Jap- 
anese, like that of all ancient nations, is lost in the nebulous night of 
fable. Japanese tradition has it that for a period they were ruled by 
seven celestial spirits. After that mortal chieftains are spoken of. 

AUTHENTIC JAPANESE HISTORY. 

The real history of the islands dates from 660 B. C, when, according 
to Japanese and Chinese lore alike, a Chinese chieftain visited the 
archipelago by way of Korea, followed by Chinese colonies. Strangely 
enough, their quest was similar to that of the early Spanish adventur- 
ers in America — a search for the fountain of perpetual youth. The 
relationship is attested by the similarity in the primitive civilizations of 
China and Japan, the religion, written language and traditions, 
although the language as spoken differs. The Japanese name of their 
empire, Akitsoo-no-slma, Isle of the Dragon Fly, is derived from a 
fancied resemblance to that insect in the shape of Nippon. 

REVELED IN SICKENING CRUELTY. 

Early Japanese history is a succession of tales of priestcraft, war- 

129 



I30 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

fare, intrigue, conspiracy and torture. In all things your Jap is an 
artist, and when he tried his delicate hand at torture h,e arose to the 
occasion with ingenious skill. One refined method of increasing hu- 
man suffering, described as having been visited upon certain con- 
spirators, consisted of coating the body of the victims with a thick 
covering of clay and suspending them over a bed of live coals. This 
by causing the clay to dry, harden and crack, opened a thousand gashes 
and seams in the living flesh. Gashes cut in offenders' backs and used 
as molds for molten copper are mentioned by old authors as affording 
an excellent medium for extorting confessions. The metal, when 
liardened, was drawn forth with the seared flesh adhering to it, while 
the victim, if surviving, was prepared for other punishments. Cruci- 
fixion is also named as an ancient practice, and the swordsmen were 
reputed to possess such skill as public executioners that they could 
pierce a victim sixteen times without touching a vital spot. 

japan's early naval prowess. 

Once before in its history was Japan threatened with attack by sea. 
It was a little more than six centuries ago, in the year 1281, and the 
enemy was the famous conqueror Kublai Khan, Vvdio had already over- 
run half the world, and who wished to add the island kingdom to his 
already gigantic dominions. To accomplish his purpose he sent the 
greatest fleet that had ever been assembled — a veritable Armada, com- 
prising no fewer than 3,500 vessels. 

When Kublai Khan dispatched envoys to the Mikado's capital, de- 
manding submission and the payment of tribute, he never dreamed 
of a refusal. But the Japanese cut off the heads of the envoys, and, 
when a second embassy was sent, repeated the performance. This, 
though ambassadors were cheap in those days, angered the conqueror, 
and he proceeded to get together a force large enough, as he supposed, 
to overcome with ease the proud and stubborn islanders. History 
records that the invading fleet carried 100,000 Chinese and Tartars 
and 7,000 Koreans. 

It was in the seventh month of the above mentioned year that the 



STORY OF JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE. 131 

Japanese from their watch towers on shore beheld the approach of 
the Armada, whose midtitudinous sails whitened the waters of the 
ocean as far as the eye could see. Many of the ships were junks of 
extraordinary size, such as the islanders had never heard of before, and 
were armed with weapons of warfare of the most modern and im- 
proved type, such as huge bow-guns, which threw formidable darts and 
catapults that discharged heavy stones. One of these stones, landing 
upon a vessel's deck, would sink her. 

No wonder, then, that the Japs gazed with wonder and alarm upon 
the hostile Mongol fleet. But, though startled, they were not afraid, 
and bravely did they set out in their own little vessels against the 
foe. Some of the junks they "cut out" from the fleet and captured, 
quickly chopping off the heads of those on board. Meanwhile the 
fighting men on shore built a long line of earthworks, and defended 
them so gallantly against landing parties of the enemy that they soon 
secured upward of 2,000 heads — decapitation with the two-handed 
sword being an art in which the "Samurai" were remarkably proficient^ 

They performed prodigies of valor, both on land and sea. Never- 
theless, it is altogether probable that they would have been defeated 
eventually, and that the Mongols would have gained at least a tem- 
porary foothold in Japan had it not been for an occurrence which is 
believed to this day to have been a special interposition of Providence. 
While the fighting was still going on a dark cloud appeared in the sky, 
and presently there broke one of those tremendous cyclonic storm.s 
which in that part of the world are called typhoons. 

The typhoon swept down upon the Mongol fleet and simply smashed 
it. Many of the junks were sunk, others were smashed against one 
another, and others yet were cast upon the rocky shore. The few 
vessels that survived the storm took refuge in the harbor of a near-by 
island, where those who manned them were attacked by the Japanese 
and slaughtered wholesale, only three being left alive, so the story goes, 
to carry back to Kublai Khan the news of the fate that had befallen 
his mighty expedition for the conquest of Japan. 

History is said to repeat itself. Certainly the story of this ill-fated 



132 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

expedition is remarkably similar to that of the Armada sent by Spain 
against England in the year 1 588. The Spanish Armada consisted of 
130 ships, and, as may be remembered, was totally destroyed by a 
storm off the British Isles. Naturally, the Japs regard the incident as 
testifying both to their valor and to the favor enjoyed by them at 
the hands of the gods; and to this very day the Japanese mother 
encourages her frightened infant by assuring the child that the Mon- 
gols are not coming. 

GIGANTIC JAPANESE WRESTLERS. 

By no means are all of the Japanese small people, and among them 
there is a caste distinguished by gigantic stature — namely, the wres- 
tlers, who afford a very remarkable illustration of what may be accom- 
plished by artificial selection in the breeding of human beings for 
certain physical attributes. The wrestlers intermarry only among 
themselves, and, the process having been carried on for several hundred 
years, both men and women of the caste are giants. Oddly enough, 
the men who make a living in this profession eat and drink enormously, 
and are usually very fat. 

THE LAND OF UPSIDE-DOWN. 

American ideas of "training" do not seem to be accepted in Japan, 
where most things are done in what would be regarded as topsy-turvy 
fashion. A Japanese book begins at the end, and has footnotes at 
the top of the pages. The color of mourning is white, and the women 
carry their babies on their backs. In the construction of a house the 
roof is built first, and the best rooms are in the rear. People bathe 
openly in front of their houses without a stitch of clothes on, women 
as well as men, and it is the Jap custom to dry oneself with a damp 
towel. 

ARTISTIC AND IMITATIVE. 

The Japanese represent the highest development of what may be 
called the "hand epoch" in the progress of culture. With devices no 
better than those of savages they are able to evolve products in all 
lines of industry which rival or surpass the best work of machinery. 



STORY OF JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE. 133 

Nevertheless, possessing to an extraordinary degree the faculty of 
imitation, they are rapidly becoming users of machinery, and at the 
present time they are becoming great manufacturers of first-class 
watches and clocks. 

It is an instinct with the Japs to imitate everything they see that 
seems worth reproducing. A missionary a few years ago imported a 
baby carriage, and lo! the "jinricksha" — an enlargement of the idea, 
adapted for pulling by a man — came into being. There are now 
38,000 jinrickshas in Tokyo alone. The name signifies "man-power 
vehicle"— or as a witty American suggested, it might be translated 
"pullman-car." It is the first step away from the carrying-litter into 
the epoch of the wheel. 

The dancers of Japan illustrated the graceful postures of Delsarte 
centuries before they were ever thought of on this side of the world. 
Another art for which these Asiatics are remarkable is tattooing, at 
which they are extremely expert, executing artistic and elaborate pat- 
terns with steel needles in sepia and vermilion. They even apply co- 
caine to prevent pain. 

EARLY BLOODY WAR IN KOREA. 

Reverting to the subject of war, not only do the Japanese generals 
know every foot of the ground in Korea, not only have the chief offi- 
cers taken part in battles on that ground, but Korea is always a source 
of sentimental inspiration to a Japanese fighting man. Three hundred 
years ago Japan conquered Korea. After one battle it is said that 
214,752 human bodies were beheaded to furnish a foundation for the 
famous "ear tomb" mound in Kioto. In that war something like 
50,000 Japanese soldiers were buried in the peninsula. A Japanese 
officer in Korea never forgets the deeds of Kato and Konishi, the twoj 
heroes of that awful conflict. 

THE SOLDIER AN ARISTOCRAT. 

There is something curiously suggestive in the larger aspects of 
the situation in the far East. It is only a few decades since Commo- 
dore Perry, with a squadron of American ships, forced Japan to open 



134 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

her ports to the Western civihzation which has made her to-day one 
of the recognized military powers of the world. Before that she was 
a nation of two-handed swords, shields, suits of armor and spears. 
To-day her army and navy are as modern and scientific as those of the 
United States or Germany. She has grown in industry as well as in 
military strength. But she is crowded. There are 50,000,000 inhabit- 
ants on her 147,669 square miles of territory. The soldier is the social 
aristocrat, not only because of the traditions of the fighting samurai, 
the two-sworded warriors who lorded it over the rest of the people 
and were honored simply because they were fighters, but because it is 
recognized that it is he who is to give Japan opportunity to grow as 
fast as its people. The soldier in Japan represents to his nation the 
fulfilment of plans of vast territorial conquest in Asia which are always 
present in the Japanese mind. 

If these strange, progressive people shall continue to increase in num- 
ber, power, productiveness and ambition, what does it mean to the 
future of Europe and America? Does it mean a new standard of 
ethics, morals and economics enforced by this hitherto unfelt competi- 
tion? Who can foresee! 

NAGASAKI, THE GREAT COALING STATION. 

An example of economic and industrial conditions is found at the 
great Japanese coaling station, Nagasaki, in the heart of Japan's col- 
liery district. 

All the mail steamers of the East, save the French Messageries Mari- 
times, coal at Nagasaki on outward and inward trips; all the naval 
ships fill their bunkers here ; and once each month the American trans- 
ports, home-bound from Manila, stop to take on coal. The mines 
belong to the Mitsui family of bankers, who in addition to this great 
revenue producing property own dry docks, slips, iron works, repair 
shops and shipyards in Nagasaki harbor. 

The coaling at Nagasaki is a proceeding that never loses interest 
for one. The coal lighters are waiting by the buoy when a mail 
steamer arrives, and in a trice the nimble Joeh have built broad, ladder- 



STORY OF JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE. 135 

like arrangements of planks up each side of the ship, on which they 
stand in line and pass automatically the shallow baskets of coal. 

A stream of little baskets runs up the side of the ship from thecoolies, 
who are shoveling the baskets full in the lighters, to the last men who 
stand on the ship's deck and empty the shallow osier pans over the 
bunkers' mouths. All chat as they work, men, women and boys, and 
those who gather up the empty baskets and hurl them down in bunches 
have a shrill cry of their own. 

The coal passers are paid by the ton, averaging about sixty sen . 
(thirty cents) a day, women and children half price, and by many 
holidays and rewards their zeal and interest are so maintained that 
they are always beating the record. 

It is a matter of record that 1,210 tons have been put aboard ship 
in three and a half hours. This rate of 2il^ tons an hour was the 
marvel of the initiated until this spring, when 420 tons an hour went to 
the credit of the cheerful, joyful little Nagasaki coal passers. At this 
last record breaking performance 2,100 tons were put aboard in five 
and a half hours, during which time each gang had a half hour's rest 
for their midday meal. 

Coal is not put aboard as quickly in San Francisco, Tacoma, Seattle 
or Vancouver, with all the aid of overhead machinery and elevated 
tracks for coal cars, dumping directly to the ship's docks. 

COST OF LIVING FOR LABORER. 

With this sixty and seventy sen a day, as the piece work by the ton 
averages when divided among thejrnembers of one gang, the coal passer 
can live in this cheapest port of Japan, but not too luxuriously. Aver- 
aging fifteen yen ($7.50) a month, the laborer can afford a one or two- 
room house, with an inclosed cooking place at the back, for which he 
pays one or two yen. He can buy fifty pounds of common rice for a 
yen and a half (seventy-five cents), Chinese rice much more cheaply. 
Three bowls of rice is a full meal, and three meals a day the height of 
prosperity. Chinese rice is dry, flat, unpalatable to the Japanese, who 
prefer the more solid, glutinous grain of their own rice, and if the 



136 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

coolie would buy in the street he may have a bowl of rice for two sen 
or five sen, according to quality and trimmings. 

Soba, a macaroni made of buckwheat flour, is popular with the coolie 
classes and cheaper — 1^/2 sen for a steaming bowl of dough strings — 
but the coolies say, "soba is not such earnest eating as rice." It does 
as a "piece" or a nibble between meals, a substitute for a square meal 
when the purse is lightest. 

Country folk eat beans, peas, millet and barley in place of rice at 
some meals, more because they can easily grow those cheaper substi- 
tutes than for all that is taught to the children in schools and preached 
in lay lectures to the elders at the temples concerning the nitrogen, 
the carbon, the proteids, the heat and energy producing qualities of 
those foodstuffs. The city workman will have none of them, and 
prefers the cheapest Chinese rice rather than no rice at all. iWith his 
rice he must have pickled or salted relishes to give it flavor, and salted 
plums, pickled radishes, and cabbage, and every kind of dried and 
salted fish season the daily bowls. Meat he seldom eats, but fish always 
in some form, as many times a day as he can get it. Tea cheers him 
all day long, before, after, with and between meals, and for greater 
cheer there is the saki, or rice brandy, badly imitated by cheap dilutions 
of foreign alcohol. 

The wife and children work and earn something as well, and as long 
as people and goods go up and down the sea in ships propelled by steam 
the coal coolies of Nagasaki may live, and live well, as their class views 
living. They have their little luxuries, their pleasures, and amuse- 
ments , their temple days and festivals, and are probably the happiest 
and most contented poor that one may find in the world. 




CHAPTER X. 
RUSSIA, THE LAND OF THE GREAT WHITE BEAR. 

Not a Young Giant — Why "Russia"? — Christianity Introduced Through Royal Mar- 
riage—The Ancient Russian Republic— Intrigue and Perpetual Warfare — 
Tartar Rule Broken — Ivan the Terrible. 

'O land and no people are more generally misunderstood than 
Russia and the Russians. Occupying a section of the globe 
remotely removed from popular intercourse with America and 
its populace, and with few true representatives transplanted to this 
country, it is not strange that the American conception of the Russian 
should be dim and uncertain. 

In all discussions of disturbances in the far East one is prone to 
forget that the popular literature treating of Russia is largely of Eng- 
lish authorship, or at least emanates from western Europe, which 
throughout all time has regarded Russia as a menacing cloud. That 
is equally true of American press dispatches, which filtering through 
unfriendly sources naturally take on a tinge of that spirit, Siberia, 
with its dreary snow-clad plains, is at once pictured at mere mention 
of Russia, Our ears tingle with the suggestion of clanking chains, 
the cry of the victim of the knout and the frenzied shriek of Kishenev's 
hapless martyrs. These things have been drilled into mind and mem- 
ory, oh, so well! but we are inclined to be blind and deaf to Russia, 
the patient giant, growing in greatness and civilization, in spite of 
monumental obstacles in the form of ignorance, bigotry, prejudices, 
hatred and bitterness and the most incongruous population that na- 
tional development ever threw together in the evolution of an empire. 



138 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Russia is not a youngster in swaddling clothes clamoring at the door 
of civilization for recognition. Her civilization is hoary with an- 
tiquity. Her religious political system may seem strange, indeed, 
to him who views them at long distance, yet Russia has proven a 
mighty civilizing power, a mammoth crucible into which all manner of 
barbaric races have been gathered to emerge at least crudely chastened. 

EARLY DAYS OF RUSSIAN HISTORY. 

Previous to the ninth century A. D. the territory now embraced in 
Russia was known only as the home of nomadic tribes, similar to 
those of Northern and Central Asia. It was the restless Northman, 
Ruric, v/ho sowed the seeds of empire. Cruising with his Varangians, 
about the year 862 he sailed through the Gulf of Finland, and, proceed- 
ing onward by lakes and rivers, discovered the native city of Novgorod. 

In this nondescript collection of wooden huts Ruric established him- 
self as the first grand duke, founded a state, gave it Scandinavian 
laws, divided the territory among his soldiers and countrymen that 
flocked to him, and named it Russia. 

WHY 'Prussia"? 

So far as is known, the name was derived from a warlike tribe of 
Sarmatia, called Ros by the prophet Ezeckiel, who made their name a 
terror on the Roman frontiers. One of Ruric's chieftains took pos- 
session of Kiev. Thither Ruric's son, Igor, removed his capital, and 
the Normans soon had fleets upon the Black Sea and a mighty duke- 
dom, constantly enlarged by new conquests made by feudal chiefs en- 
joying the title of dukes. 

CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED THROUGH ROYAL MARRIAGE. 

Vladimir the Great, in order to consummate a marriage with the 
Greek Emperor's sister, adopted Christianity. The pagan duke made 
good his promise to destroy the pagan places of worship in the land, 
and before his death, in 1015, noble and serf alike had received the rite 
of baptism, and Cliristian churches sprang up everywhere. 

No greater surprise can be encountered in history than Novgorod 



LAND OF THE GREAT WHITE BEAR. 139 

developing into a powerful commercial republic nearly a thousand 
years ago. Yet such was the case, for early Russia, unlike most feudal 
countries, was not made up of merely nobles, serfs and military vassals. 
Free merchants displayed their wares in its cities, and a free and inde- 
pendent peasantry tilled the soil. A mayor and city councillors, elected 
annually, governed Novgorod. Its duke at the head of the state had 
no power to declare war, make peace or levy new taxes without the 
consent of the people. The public school found a foothold there. 

TARTAR INVASION. 

Greeks, Poles and Hungarians made war upon Russia, and finally, in 
1223, a mighty host of Mongol Tartars swept over and devastated the 
land. Kiev, then outstripping Paris and London, fell, and its glory, 
closely akin to that of Greece departed. For 200 years Russia lapsed 
into a barbarism scarcely distinguishable from that of its conquerors, 
whose Khan fixed his residence at Serai, on the Volga, the headquar- 
ters of the Golden Horde. While not resisting the sword of the Tar- 
tar, the Russians were compelled to defend themselves from the Swedes, 
Danes and Teutonic Knights. 

NOVGOROD AGAIN RISES. 

Novgorod alone withstood the Tartars, although paying tribute to 
them. Her duke, Alexander Nevski, repulsed the Swedish, Danish and 
Teutonic invaders, and was established by the Khan as Grand Duke of 
Russia as a means of punishing certain rebellious dukes. He it was 
w^ho began the work of reconstructing Russia on the ashes of her 
former greatness. He died in 1261, after attaining great results, was 
canonized, and is still revered as a saint. 

INTRIGUE AND PERPETUAL WARFARE. 

Then followed a period of strife, intrigue and endless warfare among 
the petty princes of the empire, each aspiring to succeed the grand 
duke. The capital v/as removed to Moscow, whence comes the term 
Muscovites. Poles and Lithuanians made war on the unhappy land. 
To escape the manifold troubles that beset them many Russians de- 



I40 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

parted to the unsettled regions to the east, where they intermingled 
with Asiatic tribes known as Cossacks, and finally took their name. 
They organized themselves into military republics, which finally were 
absorbed by Russia. 

TARTAR RULE BROKEN. 

In 1472 the Tartar rule was broken by Ivan, who, through marriage 
with a Greek princess, introduced the arts of Greece and Italy into 
Russia once more. His grandson, of the same name, who came to 
the throne in 1533, assumed the title of Czar. He opened up trade 
with the English, who were accorded great privileges, and was one of 
the suitors for the hand of Queen Elizabeth of England. He opened 
up trade with Persia and the Orient, and conducted the conquest of 
Siberia. 

IVAN THE TERRIBLE. 

This great constructive genius was Ivan the Terrible — so named 
because of the frightful cruelties he practiced. An example is found 
in the fate that befell Novgorod. Discovering that its people were 
plotting surrender to the Poles, he caused 60,000 of them to be de- 
stroyed before his fury abated. Poles and Tartars soon after burnt 
Moscow and most of its inhabitants. Ivan took refuge in a fortified 
monastery, where reflection upon his past drove him mad. In a fit of 
uncontrollable anger he killed his own son. This violent ruler died 
soon after. 

Meanwhile bondage amounting to slavery sprang up in Russia at a 
time it was disappearing from the rest of Europe. The peasants were 
bound by law to the soil on which they were born. Soon the last of 
the race of Ruric passed from the throne, and for seven years war 
and pillage, due to pretenders to the throne, wrought havoc in an em- 
pire without a ruler, while the Poles and Swedes harassed the dis- 
tracted people and took Moscow and Novgorod. 



CHAPTER XL 
BIRTH AND PROGRESS OF MODERN RUSSIA. 

Peter the Great — Death of a Romanoff at Conspirators' Hands — Elements Prove 
Deadly Enemy — Russia's Greatest Humiliation — Siege of Sebastopol — Pity 
the Czar. 

A PATRIOTIC movement resulted in retaking Moscow and es- 
tablishing Michael Romanoff on the throne of Russia in 1611. 
With the appearance of this family Russia ceased to be re- 
garded as an Asiatic and semi-barbarous nation. 

PETER THE GREAT. 

Peace was purchased by the young Czar. Two lineal descendants 
occupied the throne in comparative quiet until Peter the Great made 
his appearance in 1682 and awakened the sleeping giant. He built a 
navy, equipped an army and encouraged the arts and sciences. Vol- 
umes could be written of this wonderful man, who, during a reign of 
forty-three years, revolutionized Russian social, intellectual and indus- 
trial customs, founded an educational system, altered the Russian 
calendar to conform with that of the rest of Europe, abolished the 
national costume, emancipated the women from what was almost 
Oriental slavery, built roads, established postoffices, connected the 
great rivers by canals and expanded his empire in every possible 
way. No modern ruler has achieved so much in so brief a period as 
this strange compound of vices and virtues — this constructive genius, 
warrior and legislator, yet weak drunkard, gross sensualist, unfaithful 

husband and cruel, vengeful ruler. 

141 



142 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Peter the Great died in i "^2^ , and was succeeded by Catharine I, and 
a Hne of monarchs whose reign was disturbed by intrigue, conspiracy 
and murder. Forty-two years later Catharine H came to the throne 
and brought renewed development and expansion to Russia. Nobles 
were deprived of the power to put serfs to death. 

Her son, who succeeded Catharine H in 1796, shared the fate of 
her husband, and met death at the hands of conspirators in 1801. The 
liberation of Kosciusko and the rest of the Polish patriots was the 
principal feature of his brief reign. 

With the coronation of Alexander, a mild, beneficent and talented 
sovereign, came the promulgation of laws forbidding the sale of serfs 
unless the land on which they were settled was sold, securing to every 
man the fruits of his own labor, and according to every free man per- 
mission to purchase land. Common schools were established for the 
masses. This was little more than one hundred years ago. Russia 
was slowly, yet surely, awakening from its painful sleep of cen- 
turies ! 

In the schools the catechism was taught — the catechism in which the 
Czar as head of the Greek church is presented as God's vice-regent on 
earth. 

Upon the Emperor Alexander fell the weight of Napoleon's displeas- 
ure. The latter's march upon Moscow is too familiar a story to re- 
quire repetition here. It was in the v/inter of 18 12, when Napoleon's 
legions turned back from their prize, burned before their very eyes, 
that the quaint truthful epigram was coined — ''The winter months 
are Russia's greatest generals." 

ELEMENTS PROVE DEADLY ENEMY. 

Napoleon learned its bitter truth only too v.-ell. Ilis battle scarred 
veterans who had snatched victory at the cannon's mouth for their 
leader in many campaigns found a new and deadlier enemy in the 
freezing winds and blinding snow of the Russian plains. The history 
of the retreat from Moscow is a harrowing tale of dreadful calamities 
and suffering — of dreary stretches strewn with bleaching bones. In 



BIRTH AND PROGRESS OF MODERN RUSSIA. 143 

the hours that the ancient capital burned the work of centuries was 
wiped out. With it w^ent the French army of nearly half a million 
men, doomed to burial in trackless beds of snow, save for the miser- 
able remnant that followed Napoleon back to France. 

It was a master stroke of military daring that stamped a lesson upon 
the minds of military men such as the civilized world will never -for- 
get. After Waterloo Poland was annexed to Russia under a separate 
government. The remaining ten years of his life the Czar devoted 
to laudable efforts in the interest of his people. Yet it was beyond 
the power of any one man to remedy the evils nursed by ages of vio- 
lence and despotism, and Alexander died miserable in the knowledge 
that a conspiracy was on foot to divide the great empire into a num- 
ber of independent states. And wdio shall say that in his bitterness 
Alexander fared otherwise than to share the heritage of all who have 
ruled supreme as envied monarchs of the land of the great white bear? 

SIBERIANS HORRORS UNFOLD. 

Nicholas, his brother, succeeded to the throne in 1825. His decision 
and moderation triumphed over evil counsel, but not without blood- 
shed. His brother, Constantine, made viceroy of Poland, developed 
an insurrection through his violence, and from 1830 to 1831 frightful 
bloodshed and devastation characterized its suppression. Then the 
horrors of Siberia w^ere unfolded, and thousands of helpless Poles were 
deported to its dreaded solitudes. Russia, with characteristic stern- 
ness, put down the spirit of insurrection with a view to annihilating it 
for all time to come. Wars with Persia, Turkey and Khiva followed 
during this reign. 

Interference in the struggle between Austria and Hungary in 1848-9 
precipitated Russia in war again. 

Russia's greatest humiliation. 

Scarcely was this ended w^hen Nicholas became involved with Tur- 
key, roused the jealousy of France and England, and brought on Rus- 
sia's e:reatest humiliation of modern times. Conflict between the 



144 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Greek and Roman Catholic churches in relation to privileges in the 
Holy Land played no small part in this stupendous struggle, although 
the personal ambitions of Louis Napoleon and England's desire to 
secure Russia's trade in Central Asia were factors of no small moment. 
On July 2, 1853, Russia occupied two Danubian provinces; on Oct. 
5 the Sultan of Turkey declared war, and a series of desperate battles 
followed, terminating in the Russian retreat before the allied armies. 
In the following March Odessa was bombarded and its defenses de- 
stroyed by the British and French fleets, and the world-famous 
Crimean campaign followed. Its climax came in the siege of Sebasto- 
pol. Fleets and an invading army 200,000 strong conducted the 
siege, while Balaklava and Inkermann became the scenes of conflicts 
made famous in song and story. 

SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. 

While the war was at its height Czar Nicholas died at St. Peters- 
burg, and his son, Alexander, became his successor. After a siege 
extending over nearly a year the final and successful assault was made 
Sept. 5, 1855. Four days later Sebastopol fell. 

In January, 1856, the Czar accepted the terms of accommodation 
proposed by the allies. In February representatives of the seven Euro- 
pean powers opened a convention in Paris which terminated in a treaty 
which brought peace to Europe, gave the Ottoman Empire a new 
lease on life as the buffer state and provided the restrictions which 
resulted in permanently bottling Russia's Black Sea squadron, as was 
demonstrated at the time when it was most urgently needed to give 
battle to the Japanese fleets in the Yellow Sea at the opening of the 
Japanese-Russian war. This ended what was universally regarded at 
that time as the most stupendous military and naval action the world 
had ever witnessed. 

Everywhere the story of Russian advancement and expansion is the 
same. Warfare — sharp, bitter and decisive — then a studied effort, 
when victorious, to placate the vanquished and make of him a friend. 
Russia has not escaped war during the last half century; it never does. 






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BIRTH AND PROGRESS GF MODERN RUSSIA. i6i 

But she had reached a point where she gave promise of reform in that 
direction and of attaining distinction as the disciple of peace, when 
this gigantic storm broke. The pacific front was in no small degree to 
be attributed to the Czar. 

Czar Nicholas II who in the eyes of the Vv^orld is the absolute 
monarch who holds the power of life and death over 130,000,000 hu- 
man beings, is the direct descendant of Michael Romanoff, who in 161 3 
was elected to the vacant throne of Russia, as previously described. 
Despite the strange vicissitudes that have been the lot of his progeny, 
Michael Romanoff established a dynasty that still rules Russia. Of 
this family Peter the Great stands forth pre-eminent as the father 
of modern Russia. It was he who led his people from Asiatic savagery 
to the high degree of civilzation they have attained, and it was he who 
began the conquests and absorbing aggressions that have made that 
nation one of the greatest in the world. It is said by many who have 
delved deeply into Russian history that this able, if half savage, mon- 
arch outlined a policy that the statesmen of his country have been 
pursuing ever since, and that it is their constant consistency to the em- 
pire-building principles of Peter that has enabled the Muscovites to 
spread over most of Northern Europe and Asia, becoming, many 
profess to fear, a menace to the peace and independence of both. 

There is little of that principle in the present occupant of his throne 
if the truth is told concerning him, yet that policy is rigidly adhered to 
and religiously enforced by Russia to-day, and doubtless will be in 
the days that are to come when the Czar shall have long since passed 
to his reward. 

Nicholas II is forty-six years of age — a young man, indeed; but, 
then, Russian rulers have not generally been long-lived. He has been 
upon the throne since the death of his father in 1894, nearly ten years, 
and the average length of Russian reigns has been ten years. 

There can be no doubt that Nicholas II is, as he was when crowned, 
a high-minded prince with noble aspirations. Like his father and the 
ruler before him he, at least, has sought to give his people a greater 



i62 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

degree of freedom than they have ever enjoyed, but it must here be 
stated that the Czar of Russia cannot, in all things, do just as he 
pleases. Russia is large, and its affairs are intricate. No one man 
could dominate its civil and military service. It has its de- 
partments and its bureaus, and these departments have 
their heads; men of long experience to whose counsel no ruler 
would turn a deaf ear. These ministers, each conceded the right to 
administer the affairs of his own bureau, have, it has often been said, 
formed a bureaucracy that practically rules Russia. 

That thought must have been in the mind of the American traveler 
and journalist, who early in the struggle penned the following strik- 
ing words : 

"pity the czar." 

"Whatever men may think of the war between Russia and Japan, 
and however their sympathies may be aligned, no man can help pitying 
Nicholas II, Czar and autocrat of all the Russias. This gentle, amiable 
and physically feeble young man, who abhors war to so great a degree 
that he dreamed not long ago of abolishing it from the face of the 
earth, and w^ho would no more have engaged in the strugle with Japan 
than he would have cut his own throat, if he could have had his way 
about it, now finds himself on a sudden caught in the maelstrom of 
greed and passion which has swelled gigantic all about him. It is 
resistless ; he has no choice but to be swept along in its mighty swirl ; 
though he would gladly retire to a country villa and feed ducks, he 
must remain to be torn and crushed and made sorrowful at the center 
of things. 

"There is no help for it. Nicholas is a puppet, in spite of his apparent 
autocracy. Surrounded by strong, forceful, able men who lust for 
conquest and more power, he has nothing to do but yield to their ini- 
tiative. If he resisted them, he knows that his life would not be worth 
a rouble. He would be snufTed out in a night like a candle, and his 
giant uncle, the Grand Duke Alexis, who is as barbaric in his instincts, 
tastes and modes of thought as Catharine herself, would be set in his 
place. 



BIRTH AND PROGRESS OF MODERN RUSSIA. 163 

"Poor, young Czar ! He is fighting, not for Manchuria or Korea, but 
for his own life and his children's. He is jfighting, not the Japanese, 
but the men who daily kiss his hand in his own drawing-room." 

This picture is undoubtedly overdrawn, yet it is unquestioned to-day 
that the Czar did not look for war, and, like his forces, was totally 
unprepared for the initial blow when it fell, 

Nicholas II will ever be remembered as the ruler who urged the 
Peace Conference which resulted in The Hague Court of International 
Arbitration and for his more recent edict relieving the Russian serfs 
of much of former bondage. More than once since negotiations 
opened with Japan it has been reported that his wish was for peace, 
but it is evident that his counselors have overruled him. The policy 
of Peter must not be relegated to the background because the present 
occupant of the throne prefers peace. Russia has ever been aggres- 
sive. She is agressive now and the counselors have prevailed. A 
peace-loving Czar may pray for the success of Russian arms, but he 
cannot recall his troops or reopen negotiations until the war has run 
its course. 

At least it was no Insignificant matter that brought Russia and 
Japan to the verge of hostilities. There was a good deal of truth in 
the saying that England drifted into the Crimean war without knowing 
exactly why it did so. Not less accurate was Tord Palmerston's 
familiar declaration concerning the Schleswig-Holstein troubles. Only 
three men in Europe, he said, ever knew what those war-making trou- 
bles were. Two of the men died before the war broke out and the 
third forgot what was the point in dispute. A slighting reference by 
Frederick the Great to Mme. Pompadour v^^as one of the exciting 
causes of the seven years' war. An overturned glass of water was 
one of the contributing elements to another. The omission of a sim- 
ple "etc." was the peg upon which an earlier one was hung. The 
theft of a lady's petticoat brought Moors and Spaniards to bloodshed. 
The smashing of a mandarin's teapot was the basis of a war between 
the imperial forces of China and hill tribes which lasted for genera- 
tions. 



164 



THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 



If this be any consolation to Nicholas II it is perhaps the only 
element of satisfaction open to the peace-loving monarch, who un- 
willingly saw thousands of his subjects go forth to die in the warfare 
he abhors. 





CHAPTER XII. 

STORY OF THE GRAY OLD HERMIT. 

Soldiers Armed v/ith Arrows — Queerest People on Earth — Frightened at a Laugh— 
Strange Marriage Customs — The Pig Important to the Korean — Weird Medi- 
cal Treatment — Where Wild Beasts Lurk — 10,000 Korean Ears as War Spoils. 

JRECTLY across the narrow Strait of Korea opposite Japan lies 
the gray old hermit nation, dressed in white cotton grown on its 
own soil and spun by its own fingers. Its people are the gentlest, 
most foolish, credulous people in the whole world. 

The race is almost without a rival physically. Even the most stal- , 
wart of the Mongols is not taller, straighter or swifter of limb than 
these dreamy, yellow-skinned children of sloth and dreams. Their 
Emperor is a soft-eyed, effeminate Oriental, a recluse surrounded by 
dancing girls and plotting eunuchs, and the government which is sup- 
posed to administer is utterly corrupt. His army is a huge joke. A 
part of it is armed with modern weapons, but it is absolutely without 
military spirit and is treacherous to the core. 

WAR AWAKES THE SLEEPER. 

It was into his dominions and upon his cities that Jap and Russ 
poured to determinate the outcome of their fierce quarrel, kill each 
other by hundreds, introduce a reign of terror and anarchy, devastate 
the land and perchance finally absorb it by right of conquest. But the 
solemn-visaged ruler of Korea could not say nay to the intrusion— 
not that he welcomed the intruders, but through force of the fact that 
bows and arrows were unlikely to prevail against two such ferocious 

165 



i66 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

hosts as fell upon his slumbering domain and awoke it with the thun- 
der of modern artillery. 

^ SOLDIERS ARMED WITH ARROWS. 

At the battle of Pingyang in 1894 a part of the Korean army vol- 
unteered to assist the Chinese in resisting the Japanese. But when 
the battle opened they fired a few flights of foolish arrows and then 
ran away to the woods, to cov.er and hide for days until they were 
assured that there was no further fighting in prospect. One sees 
everywhere in Korea the old men, tall, erect, with trailing white 
beards and the mien of so many Solomons, puffing their long pipes 
with a majestic gravity picturesque beyond expression. There are 
scholars among them who know the great Chinese classics and live in 
an atmosphere of poetry; but of practical ideas or of capacity for 
progress they are quite devoid. 

An old world traveler, returned to his New York home just before 
the war started, tells of being informed at Pingyang by its native 
governor, a bearded dignitary in a crimson silk robe, with a jade 
pigeon in his official cap, that the reason there were not more wells 
there was that the city was on an island, and that if too many holes 
were bored in the bottom of it it might sink. And while they talked 
the fleas were hopping amiably from his gorgeous robe to the traveler's 
riding jacket; for Korea is a very dirty and verminous part of the 
world. 

KOREA OF STRATEGIC VALUE. 

Save for her agriculture and the gold mines in her northern hills — 
the value of which, by the way, has been greatly exaggerated — Korea 
has no sources of wealth. Her value to the victor in this war will be, 
for the present at least, her strategic value, for it must take generations 
to develop the Koreans to any serious point of industrial productive- 
ness. In her ancient days she developed a very pure art, which was 
shown physically in her potteries. But when Kato and Konishi con- 
quered Korea they took the famous potters in chains to the Japanese 
province of Satsuma, and that was the origin of the Japanese pottery, 



STORY OF THE GRAY OLD HERMIT. 167 

which has been so vulgarized by the modern artists. Today Korea is 
even without arts. 

QUEEREST PEOPLE ON EARTH. 

As the Japanese army marched on its way to the capital of Korea 
the soldiers were stared at by some of the queerest people on earth. 
We think of the Chinese as living among the traditions of several 
thousand years ago, yet the Flowery Kingdom is right up to date com- 
pared with the Hermit Kingdom. 

When the American Commodore Perry unlocked the Empire of 
Japan he started that realm into the quickest development of civiliza- 
tion that the world ever saw. Another American sailor, Admiral 
Schufeldt, opened Korea to the commerce of the world by treaty 
negotiated 2^ years ago, yet the drowsy hermit has not yet even begun 
to rub his eyes. The nation is still almost as backward as when the 
American navy had to give it a trouncing shortly after the American 
Civil War for attacking Yankees who were inquisitive enough to un- 
dertake to explore Korean rivers. 

FRIGHTENED AT A LAUGH. 

The country is hoary with age. Some cities date back to the time 
of King David. The land is so old that the very rocks seem to crumble 
with rottenness. The Koreans themselves believe that their nation 
has lived about the allotted time, but they are excessively proud of 
their antiquity. They never smile. They can't understand how it 
enters the heads of foreigners to smile at anything. Some there are 
who have become frightened and took to their heels at the sight of a 
white man indulging in a hearty laugh. 

Korean men of the wealthy classes are among the richest dressers 
in the world. More than in anything else they take pride in their high, 
conical, Mother Goose-like hats, made of horsehair woven so loosely 
that it keeps out neither sun nor rain. The nobles strut about the 
streets clad in all sorts of gorgeous gowns and attended by retainers 
garbed in all sorts of liveries. The noble has a different costume for 
almost every occasion. 



i68 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

One can tell a Korean's position in society by his dress. Style of cos- 
tume differs for every caste, particularly in hats and in sleeves. For 
funerals the Korean dresses M^ith special elaborateness, so that a death 
brings a richer harvest to the tailor than does a wedding. 

The foreigner is apt to be struck with the attractive appearance of 
what he supposes to be little girls. Without any other head covering 
than their hair, which flov/s down their backs, they are brightly 
gowned. But these little folks are boys, not girls. When a little 
chap marries he dons the conical hat for the first time, and, no doubt, 
is as proud as the American boy with his first pair of knee pants. On 
that occasion, too, his hair is shaved from his head, all except a little 
top-knot about the size of a baby's fist, which is done up in a wad 
on the top of the head. 

If nature has given beauty to any girl or woman in Korea the 
seductive gift is effectually concealed by her style of dress. Her cos- 
tume is hideous. Grotesque, loose trousers extend from the waist to 
the ankles, where they are tightly tied. Over this garment is a petti- 
coat barely reaching to the knees. A little yoke or shoulder cape with 
monstrous sleeve attached protects the shoulders and arms, but the 
dressmaker has quite forgotten to conceal the naked flesh from the 
chest to the waist with any sort of apparel. The material for this 
costume is a coarse cloth woven out of the liber of millet stems. 

The only attractively dressed native women in Korea are the danc- 
ing women, "Ki-sang," who somewhat correspond to the famous 
geisha girls of Japan; but these Korean dancers are wives of court 
retainers, well up in society, and their function is to amuse guests 
at official dinners. 

The Korean matron carries her child on her back, its little feet 
resting on straps and its legs clasped around its mother's waist. The 
youngster is not weaned until he is 4 or 5 years old. 

STRANGE MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 

Marriageable girls are secluded, just as. they are in China, and so, 
too, are they bought and sold like merchandise in the matrimonial 



STORY OF THE GRAY OLD HERMIT. 169 

market. For that matter the male children have as little liberty in 
the choice of their spouses, for they are betrothed, perhaps, while 
they are still being carried, pappoose fashion, on their mother's backs. 
Before marriage the girl wears a wide, stiff belt around her waist, 
which supports her figure. At marriage the ugliness of her costume 
is eiilianced by the plucking out by the roots of her eyebrows and 
the short hair which on American maidens might do duty as bangs. 

In Korea the wife is household drudge, child-bearer, gardener, stable 
boy, farm hand and man of all work. If her lazy husband is a farmer 
life for him is "one grand sweet song." She does all the field work, 
except perhaps in the critical time of harvest, when he can be induced 
to help a little to save the crop. 

Unlike the enterprising Jap or the industrious Chinaman the Korean 
is a lazy lout. It is said that while on earth he gets just two baths — 
immediately after birth and directly after death. But though he be 
filthy in body his clothes are immaculately clean, and his heaviest 
expense is the replacing of garments worn out by excessive rubbing 
and beating at the laundry. The favorite posture of the Korean while 
at work is to squat on his heels. His chief recreation is the ancient 
sport of falconry. 

THE KOREAN DRESS. 

Korean children are dressed in embroidered jackets and caps, and 
with them, as with the Chinese, the care that is lavished upon the 
dressing of little boys in well-to-do families shows the estimation in 
which they are held and the affection that is lavished upon them, to 
the exclusion of their sisters. 

As for the male population of the country, it looks like one vast and 
sorted white demonstration. Whatever his rank and wealth, the every- 
day dress of the Korean man is white — trousers, shirt and full-sleeved 
cloak, all made of flowing linen and kept scrupulously clean. He may, 
if he be a man of means, wear a blue silk cloak in place of white, or 
other elaborate costume, but this is only for polite society. Except in 
the case of a handful of youths, educated during the last decade at 



170 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

the English school, the hair is never cut, but is gathered into a top- 
knot, thick, coarse and frowsy. 

THE PIG IMPORTANT TO THE KOREAN. 

As in China rice is the staple article of food throughout Korea, but 
the people indulge more freely in beef and pork than other Mongolian 
peoples, and they are especially fond of fish. Other common dishes 
are crushed beans, cabbage, chillies and strings of meat and dough. 
Fish is dried in the sun without salt. 

The houses of the common people are huts built of .baked mud, 
floored with like material and roofed with thatched straw. One apart- 
ment is reserved for the pig, every family having one. Flues beneath 
the floor keep the room unbearably hot for white folk, summer as well 
as winter. The hillsides are swept bare of trees and bushes to supply 
fuel for these furnaces until timber has become a scarce and precious 
luxury. All that is fit to go into the construction of houses is imported 
from Japan. Even the sprouts that spring up around the roots of 
former trees are carefully cut to feed the ever-hungry stoves. 

BETWEEN TWO FIRES. 

Early in the Japanese invasion of Korea the Emperor performed a 
characteristic "flop" and forthwith sent liberal presents to the Japanese 
troops at Seoul and other points of the peninsula. This marked a 
decided change of policy. The Japanese minister informed the Em- 
peror of Korea that the Japanese government would appoint a mem- 
ber of the Japanese imperial house as viceroy, and that he would come 
to Seoul merely as an adviser to the Korean government. The Em- 
peror was assured that there was no cause for alarm, and that the ap- 
pointment was only temporary. 

KOREA CULTIVATES JAPAN. 

The Japanese seized Russia's coal depot at Chemulpo, where con- 
siderable coal was stored. The Japanese auth.orities then returned the 
Korean telegraph office to Korean Officials and chartered the only 
Korean commercial steamers, five in number, for use as colliers, and 



STORY OF THE GRAY OLD HERMIT. 171 

likewise the only existing Korean warship, the Yank Mu, for the same 
purpose. 

The Korean minister at St. Petersburg was not asleep and promptly 
announced that although 36,000 Korean troops were stationed about 
Seoul, his government preferred not to take up arms against Japan, 
because Korea was neutral and felt sure Russia would soon drive out 
the Japanese. 

AMERICANS BOXED UP IN SEOUL. 

With the first signs of war there was a grand scramble of Americans 
in the Orient to the the refuge afforded by a score of American con- 
sular and diplomatic posts. With the hideous echo of the Boxer 
uprising in China fresh in memory transplanted Americans were taking 
no chances with the possible awakening of cruel, ferocious instincts in 
Chinese, Korean, Manchu, Jap or even Russian. Seoul, Korea's capi- 
tal, had been looked upon as the probable storm center. Horace N. 
Allen, the United States minister who guarded our interests against 
Korean outlawry, was not only haunted day and night by spectral as- 
sassins in the performance of his routine duties, but was boxed up in 
an unhealthy bungalov/, with so low a ceiling that he could not stand 
upright with his hat on. 

A battalion of Yankee marines from the Vicksburg, with a Colt 
automatic, was on hand long before the outbreak to guard the lega- 
tion. Minister Allen was forced to eschew the comforts of a suburban 
home which he built for himself, and at his ov/n expense, after strug- 
gling three months with the dread malaria and barely escaping death. 
An insanitary shack, this frail pile of mud and tile, with low, damp 
chambers built upon the ground. Two of the United States envoys 
succumbed to malarial diseases contracted within their bed rooms and 
an official of the foreign office was stricken down by the same fever 
after reposing but a few nights within these walls. Nor v/ere the 
hygiene and the ceiling height of this sacred domicile the sum total of 
its deficiencies. Its architecture was truly eccentric, for, like the pro- 
verbial Irishman's shanty, it stood rear side foremost, the kitchen 
being in front, an embarrassing arrangement for a dignified envoy 



172 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

extraordinary, who must rub elbows with European diplomacy swag- 
gering in gold lace and sneeringly hypercritical. 

THE UNITED STATES LEGATION. 

The United States legation compound at Seoul, converted into 
a camp of marines, was a plot of over three acres, adjoining the 
grounds of the imperial palace where Emperor Heui Yi, fearing assas- 
sination by day, plied his scepter between midnight and dawn in the 
glare of the American electric light. It was in the heart of the legation 
settlement. Adjacent to the ministerial bungalow stood the houses 
of the secretary, constable, interpreter and attendants, also the jail ; 
for in Korea as well as in China, Siam and Turkey, the United States 
has extra-territorial rights over its own citizens, none of whom is 
amenable to native law. All of these buildings were old, flimsy, one- 
story native houses of mud and tile, reinforced by thin brick walls. 

PRECAUTIONS FOR SAFETY OF AMERICANS. 

Peeping over the walls of this compound Minister Allen could see 
all the neighboring legations and consulates bustling with troops. 
Then his fatherly eye scanned the roofs of 300 Americans, for whose 
women and children he had to provide escort when they ventured in 
the streets. His was truly a heavy responsibility. 

Seoul is greater than Washington, Detroit or New Orleans in point 
of population. In the event of anti-foreign demonstration the Ameri- 
cans would be outnumbered a thousand to one. With this knowledge 
our envoy warned all women and children to remain hidden within 
their doors as soon as the first murmurs of anti-foreign demonstra- 
tion began to be heard. In co-operation with the other diplomats ac- 
credited to Seoul he arranged an alarm signal which was to be sounded 
at the first moment of uprising. The Korean army consisted of but 
3,500 men, but not even this little handful of soldiers had been trained 
in modern military science. It resembled a constabulary rather than 
an army, and from the first it was realized that its powers in coping 
wuth a fanatical horde, seized with the instinct to pillage and burn, 
would be nil. 



STORY OF THE GRAY OLD HERMIT. 173 

The favorite remedy which Korean physicians administer to their 
unhappy patients is to stab them. If any part of the body is sore or 
in pain a needle is thrust into that part. Frequently lances are reck- 
lessly jabbed into the abdomen or breast to the length of the hand 
without regard to the position of vital organs that might be in the 
w^ay. 

If this method of treatment fails all sorts of incantations and super- 
stitious practices are resorted to. A white traveler once saw a native 
physician prescribe for a patient a brother's finger made into soup. 
The brother cheerfully parted with his finger, but the visitor did not 
remain long enough to watch the effect of the medicine. 

There are few Buddhists left in Korea since they were all driven 
out of Seoul, the capital, for inciting a rebellion. The religion of 
the lower orders — if religion it can be called — is a species of devil 
worship. The native believes that evil spirits inhabit withered trees, 
and every time a Korean passes one of these objects he throws a stone 
or a bright piece of rag at it to propitiate the demons. In times of 
trouble the spirits are further placated by offerings of rice and wine 
left in a little house near the foot of the tree. 

WHERE WILD BEASTS LURK. 

To the north of Korea lies the wildest part of Manchuria, peopled 
by an ignorant and unprogressive race, who have lost even the military 
traits which they once possessed. There has always been a neutral 
zone between Korea and Manchuria. This little strip of country, 
being without government, was peopled by outlaws and wild beasts. 
The country today has been to some extent subdued and ordered by 
the presence of Russian authority. It is in this region that the Russian 
troops were massed. 

A part of the forces were slowly moved down from Vladivostok, at 
the mouth of the Ameer river, and from Mukden, the ancient Tartar 
capital, through which the Port Arthur branch of the Trans-Siberian 
Railway runs. These bodies of Russian troops, moving on foot from 
the east and the west, passed through a country whose language they 



174 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EASi\ 

could not speak, surrounded by a sullen, suspicious, primitive people. 

Korea, long known as the "Hermit Kingdom," has since early in 
history been the cause of trouble between China and Japan. Lying 
as she does between the two she acted as a buffer state and each 
strove for her control. In the first battles, China had the best of it. 
The Japanese fleet was destroyed and the Koreans were forced to pay 
tribute to China. The Mongol tyrant Kublai Kahn also used them to 
swell the army with which he attempted to invade and sul^due Japan, 
as told in the chapter devoted to the land of the Mikado. He was, 
however, defeated with great loss and the Japanese invaded Korea in 
revenge and carried home 10,000 Korean ears as spoils of war. 

Until recent years Korea has stood still, and even now that Japan 
has infused the country with some of her progressive ideas, the 
dress and customs of the people are the same as they were 1,000 years 
ago. A Korean never runs, unless driven by the lash. He crawls 
along the streets of his city or town, and, if struck, falls down and 
waits to be picked up. Apathy to pain or pleasure is in every face the 
same. 

LAZIEST WORKMEN ON EARTH. 

To see Korean workmen digging up the ground is a lesson as to 
how things should not be done. An enormous spade is sunk into the 
soil by two or three coolies with an immense expenditure of groans 
and then two or three more gradually pull it up with ropes, at which 
they heave like a crew of sailors heaving up an anchor. It naturally 
follows that each spadeful of earth takes as long to extract as if it were 
a load of gold ore. Instead of using carrying poles like the Chinese, 
they pile the packages and burdens that they have to carry on heavy 
wooden pack saddles, which must throw the weight in the wrong place 
and increase the strain on the dorsal muscles. 

At Chemulpo, or Jensen, as the Japanese call the port, the shore is 
crowded with a hustling, pushing horde of porters, all waiting for the 
incoming boats and forcing their way on to the sampans as they are 
pulled on to the mud banks. It takes two of these men to carry what 



STORY OF THE GRAY OLD HERMIT. 



175 



one Chinese coolie would bear with ease, and the dinging folds of 
their white linen skirts, even though they be turned up, do not make 
their progress any easier. It is said that under proper and vigilant 
direction the Korean coolie does a fair day's work for less than a fair 
day's wages. 

The people are taller and more robust than the Japanese and are 
probably of Mongolian-Tartar origin. They are much like the in- 
habitants of Northern China and practice similar so-called religious 
customs. 

Seoul (called by the Koreans Han Yang or King Gi), is the capital 
and Chemulpo the principal treaty port. The others are Fusan and 
Gensan. The cities of the country are the dirtiest on earth. Filth is 
all pervading and the smell, is indescribable. Foreigners visiting one 
of the cities are compelled to cut their stay short on this account. 




Uncorking the Volcano. 




4. u" 



RUSSIAN TORTOISE — "I WONDER IF HE IS ASLEEP." 

Everyone knows the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. In this case the Tortoise had some 
reason to believe that the Hare was not i-cally asleep. 




CHAPTER XIII. 
RUSSIANS FIGHTING POWER. 

The Eastern Gibraltar — Precautions that Failed — A Railroad Conductor Mistaken 
for the Czar — Russian Officers Box Sailors' Ears— The Vital Connecting Link 
— Horror of Lake Baikal Recalled — Compared with Santiago Campaign— Sol- 
diers' Diets Compared — Russia's Grim Warrior Leaders. 

OSTILITIES opened as a surprise for Russia. Although pos- 
sessing immense military and naval strength it was not so dis- 
tributed as to be available for immediate use. The Great White 
Bear of Europe had little fear of an outbreak on the part of the little 
Red Ant of the Orient without the delays of long diplomatic nego- 
tiations. In this she was mistaken. And like all the world she gasped 
with surprise when the Japanese blow fell at Port Arthur. 

THE EASTERN GIBRALTAR. 

Naturally interest centers upon this great Russian outpost, the 
eastern Gibraltar. Writing from the spot just before the war an 
English expert pronounced the great fortress that has since occupied 
the wrapt attention of civilization untenable. Of course due allow- 
ance must be made for the fact he saw through English eyes. Sub- 
sequent developments afforded an excellent test of the value of his 
expert opinion, expressed thus : 

"Port Arthur is over- fortified. Its frowning works, mounds of 
earth and bastions of granite rock, its glacis and its trenches, circling 
and crowning some score or more of often remote and disconnected 
hills that can be dominated from other heights render them open to 

177 



178 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

attack and capture in detail. And to such a form of assault they are 
still further peculiarly exposed, for the scorings of the soil are numer- 
ous and deep. Gullies traverse the hills in all directions, and there 
is magnificent cover for riflemen, often up to within 300 yards or less 
of the nearest outlying defenses of the main works. Again, scarcely 
half the forts are completed or have any guns in position to check an 
attack delivered from the land side. 

"It is different toward the sea front, but even there the harbor may 
be reached, though there is a boom nightly spread across the entrance 
to the inner basin, and the mouth of the haven can be blocked by the 
big old Chinese boom, with its 'chevaux de frise' of projecting spars, 
shod with iron. And, of course, the Russians have laid down torpedoes 
and mines to protect the channel and entrance. Should the forts fail 
them, the mining expert is expected to touch the button and blow any 
too daring enemy's craft into fragments. 

"It is intended, once the harbor has been deepened over a greater 
area, to open a new channel, cutting this silted sand in a direction op- 
posite the existing basin upon the far side of the waterway. By that 
means the commercial marine would have its own part of the harbor 
and direct access to the trader's wharves and the new railway sidings. 
There is a rise of 8 feet to 12 feet of tide at Port Arthur. The two 
latest battleships out from Europe found no difficulty in getting into 
the harbor, although they were said to draw over 28 feet of water, 
They were at once taken into the basin, where they were touched up 
and painted black within two days, like the other warships in port. 

"In Port Arthur there are in all 14 warships, not counting torpedo 
boats or torpedo destroyers, new or old or acquired from the Chinese. 
Of the fourteen craft seven are battleships, three or four are of a type 
like the Sevastopol, which was still in the basin the other day. Most of 
the ships are anchored in three lines ahead, behind the jutting point, 
known as "Tiger's Tail." In the outer lines are the heavier craft. Be- 
sides these, but also included in the fourteen, there are two battleships 
and a cruiser anchored between the hills at the outside o^ the harbor 



RUSSIA'S FIGHTING POWER. 179 

entrance. All of them, like the Japanese ships, have their fires alight 
day and night, ready to get under steam at short notice. Meanwhile 
they keep the furnaces going with local coal — Siberian, Chinese and 
Japanese. From what I saw of their fuel stacks, I should say that 
the Russians could scrape together in briquettes or otherwise about 
200,000 tons of Cardiff coal or its equivalent. 

''The Russians rarely go out either for target practice or for steam- 
ing maneuvers. From such information as I could gather, as well as 
what I saw for myself, they are slack in their sailor duties, for the of- 
ficers spend much of their tim.e ashore, and the ideal of Russian life 
seems to be finding enjoyment and solace in such amusements as a very 
"tarry" town affords — a circus^ a wretched theater, parties and dis- 
sipation of the Cossack or Tartar kind. And the army men are quite 
as 'spreey' as their brothers of the brine. 

"But it is no worse, mayhap, than Portsmouth was a cycle or so 
ago, when prize money v/as plentiful and man-o'-warsmen took life as 
Hogarth has painted for us. Yes, and the British sailors fought well 
enough in those times. Again, it may be that as the Russian ships are 
not taken either out or into the harbor under their own steam, but are 
hauled by tugs, and directed by local pilots, there is an excuse for their 
not being out and about a,t sea every day. 

"It takes much time to get them all towed out and in, but the fact 
that the officers do not handle their own ships under the vessel's own 
steam indicates either a want of confidence or a want of experience 
upon the part of their naval commanders. The pilots and tug captains, 
by no means all Russians, are now to be set a new trial, for the fleet 
is to be tested by being towed out and into the harbor during the 
night. As the entrance is straight, wide and clear, though but of 
moderate uniform depth, and the rocky hills stand out boldly, there 
should be no serious difficulty or risk in the adventure. From a fre- 
quent inspection of the fleet's targets after practice it Is evident the 
shooting is of a very mediocre quality. The target was never towed at 
any great speed, nor was the range a long one, but it was rarely ever 



i8o THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

hit or put in danger. Of course, T am told it is different with the 
artillerymen — the garrison gunners in the hig shore batteries that 
frown from every liill — they can shoot well, and many of the cannon 
are of great size." 

VIEW OF VLADIVOSTOK. 

This is one view of the bulwark depended upon by Russia as the 
principal base for naval and military operations in the far East, and 
one opinion of the character and quality of her fighting men. But 
even the great Port Arthur can only be considered as a unit in the 
system builded by Russia in anticipation of such an emergency. Far to 
the north, a distance of 1,200 miles, lay Vladivostok, ice-bound, yet 
affording a splendid summer harbor and an operative base. In a 
country of such tremendous distances a matter of 1,200 miles is a 
mere bagatelle. And besides, the railroad afforded connections be- 
tween the two and with inland strategic points and Russia itself. Let 
us see what impressions an American— a Kansas City traveling man 
— gathered of Vladivostok, advanced before the outbreak of the war. 

'T went up there on a merchantman while working my way gradu- 
ally across the earth and got there at the proper time to find every- 
thing ice-bound and covered with snow. A more desolate aspect 
than those circling hills presented I want never to see. 

"Every one in the town wore a uniform of some sort — or mighty 
nearly every one. After I'd been there a few days I though I'd seen 
all of them, but one bright Sunday morning I was standing in front 
of the railway station smoking a wretched cigar when my attention 
was attracted to a most imposing-looking official who was walking 
slowly down the main street — Wradenrodt, I think it is — head held 
erect, eyes straight to the front, gold lace on his cap, gold lace on 
the sleeves of his coat, gold lace on his coat collar, a sash and a small 
sword or baton at his side. 

A RAILROAD CONDUCTOR MISTAKEN FOR THE CZAR. 

" 'Heaven!' said I to myself. *This must be the czar at least.* I 
asked the French consul about the important-looking personage and 



RUSSIA'S FIGHTING POWER. i8i 

he told me I had seen a passenger conductor who ran between Vladivo- 
stok and Harbin on the Trans-Siberian railroad. I saw several after 
that and verified it. As the railroad is operated by the imperial gov- 
ernment everything is military till you can't rest. Yes, I've drunk 
vodka. You can see more sights on two glasses of that stuff than on 
any liquor I ever met with. 

*T don't think much of the Russians in this trouble. They must 
crush Japan by force of numbers, but if the little brown men once 
whip them on the sea it will be all over. And they stand a good chance 
to do this, too — that is, of course, if the Russians do not get their 
Black sea fleet through the Dardanelles to add to the Asiatic squad- 
ron. If Russia does that the Japanese will have a hard time of it. 
There are one or two points to this war — if it comes — that should not 
be forgotten. Russia will have to guard all that stretch of railroad 
between Port Arthur and Harbin, the junction with the main line of 
the Trans-Siberian road. 

*Tt will take a big force to do this and it ,must be well done, for 
if the Japs ever get possession of it and can then control Masampho 
and Fusan they will come pretty close to owning the country. Russia 
has the advantage in that it has been in Manchuria so long now that 
it has likely enough got the railroad well protected. If Japan can 
hold Masampho and thus command the straits and the Yellow Sea I 
can't see where the Russians are going to get off. 

RUSSIAN OFFICERS BOX SAILORS' EARS. 

"And the Russians — I've met many of them, including a large num- 
ber of officers in the navy. The officers, most of them, are companion- 
able, social fellows, but I found them excessively tyrannical. Our 
sailors wouldn't stand treatment like that accorded the Russians — not 
for a minute. The singular thing is that there is really so little trou- 
ble in the crews. I remember standing one day on the quarter-deck 
of a Russian warship in the harbor of Nagasaki. A sailor walked to 
the mast and reported himself back from liberty ashore. He was 
drunk, very drunk, and that is a serious offense in the Russian navy. 



i82 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

"The master-at-arms had entered the man's name and was allowini? 
liim to turn away to hunt a soft spot in the fo'c'sle, when the officer 
of the deck came out of his cabin. In an instant he had strode forward, 
seized the sailor by the arm, something our officers would never dare 
to do, and had wheeled him around so that he could examine his face. 
Then, giving him a sound cuff on the ear, he sent him sprawling on 
the deck. That sort ot action would have subjected an American com- 
missioned officer to a court-martial. 

"The city is a straggling place and not one that I would think could 
be easily defended against a determined naval attack." 

THE VITAL CONNECTING LINK. 

So much for Port Arthur and Vladivostok, the two tide-water ter- 
minals of the railroad so important to Russia. Now for the railroad 
itself, the connecting link between the seat of Russian government 
and the theater of war. Upon its newly laid rails rested the fate of 
a nation, for over its length would have to be transported every fighting 
man, every horse, gun and all the supplies required by the Russian 
army in the field. Upon this railroad all eyes turned, for it must be 
remembered that 3,000 miles intervened between the scene of hos- 
tilities and Moscow, the nearest Russian supply station of any magni- 
tude. 

Had the Trans-Siberian railway been twenty years old, double 
tracked and up to date in every equipment, with officials trained by 
long service, the outlook would have been different. But no military 
man having experience in handling troops over our newly constructed 
Western railways, believed it possible to move any considerable body 
of troops over a single-track four-thousand-mile railway — or two-thou- 
sand-mile, if you choose to consider camps at which military supplies 
were accumulated in uncertain quantities. 

The history of new railways in the Western part of the United 
States has been one of washouts, sinking of tracks, improper ballasting, 
and accidents due to light rails and imperfect equipment. A traveler 
who came over the Trans-Siberian road just before its completion 



RUSSIA'S FIGHTING POWER. 183 

represented the distance between switches at which trains could be 
turned out as averaging thirty miles oyer long stretches of territory. 
American engineers say there has been much bad engineering. Tracks 
have been laid in exposed positions, and the story is told of a stretch 
of three miles of ties and rails having been floated away during a 
single flood. Only a forty-four-pound rail is used, which is too light to 
stand any heavy or continuous traffic. 

HORROR OF LAKE BAIKAL RECALLED. 

Elsewhere, in the story of the first actions of the war, the frightful- 
disaster on Lake Baikal was recounted, wherein two Russian com- 
mands were lost and frozen to death in attempting to march across 
on the ice. For not least among the handicaps under which the war 
was opened was an uncompleted section of the railroad encircling Lake 
Baikal. The latter is no mean body of water. It is the largest fresh 
water lake in the old world, with the exception of the Victoria Nyanza. 
It is 398 miles long from north to south, from 18 to 57 miles wide, 
and has an area of nearly 15,000 square miles. It is smaller than 
Lakes Superior, Michigan or Huron, but is larger than either of the 
other two great lakes. As the Dead Sea is notable because its surface 
is below ocean level, Lake Baikal is notable because its surface is 
1,566 feet above sea level and the bottom is 1,624 feet below it, giving 
the lake the extraordinary depth of 3,185 feet. 

Across this great inland sea the Russians sought to lay rails on 
the surface of the ice. By such means and the employment of sledges 
the railroad communication was maintained, although at deadly risk 
and great cost. 

To hurry forward enforcements over such a single-track railway, 
under such discouragements, is a work which would not have been 
undertaken with equanimity by even our military men of the early 
days with their broad experience in campaigning along newly con- 
structed railroads. Yet that is precisely what Russia had to do— 
and did. 



i84 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

The moving of large bodies of troops by rail is so difficult a matter 
that an officer of high rank who served in the campaign of the allies at 
Pekin declared early that the congestion at the eastern end of the 
Siberian railroad would be so great, in rushing troops and supplies 
to the front in large quantity, that the authorities would actually 
find it quicker and more convenient to unload the troops at Lake 
Baikal and march them overland to the seat of war. The maximum 
capacity of the Siberian line for continuous and prolonged service has 
been stated as low as 500 troops a day v^ith supplies, though the best 
authorities set a much higher figure. 

The fact that the road has a gauge of its own made the return of 
cars from the eastern terminal a most essential part of the problem. 
Some of those who discussed the situation apparently made the mis- 
take of assuming that Russia would have to keep its army supplied in 
chief part by means of this railroad line. The immediate question, in 
the opinion of competent observers, was rather how long it could 
supply the needs of its fighting men from the stores accumulated at 
Port Arthur and Dalny, another Russian coast supply sation near 
Port Arthur on the same peninsula. 

In this connection the statement of Joseph C. Byron of Williams- 
port, Md., who was a captain and quartermaster in the United States 
army in China during the Boxer troubles and afterward visited Korea 
and Japan, is of interest. 

"There is a great deal of difference," he says, "between the ease 
with which supplies can be transported by land and by water. A ship 
seems to have unlimited capacity. We loaded the Pak Ling at Tacoma 
with hay and grain for Manila and when by rights it should have been 
full, it took sixteen carloads of hay to 'square off the hatches' as the 
mate called it. This ship carried over 600 carloads. Imagine 600 
cars standing empty at the eastern terminus of the Siberian railroad 
and then making their way back over some thousands of miles for 
more supplies on a single-track road, a toilsome journey of weeks to 
get to the Pacific and weeks to get back ; while Japan, with two ships, 
places the same amount of supplies where it needs them in two days. 



RUSSIA'S FIGHTING POWER. 185 

"In the Santiago expedition we had several miles of freight cars 
waiting to get into Tampa and more miles waiting to get out and it 
was a very serious tax on our southern railroads with all their facilities 
to get our supplies on the dock at Tampa. Once there they were 
swallowed up by the ships. 

"A near base and water transportation are the strong points in 
Japan's favor, while a distant base and a single track road are Rus- 
sia's weakness. Port Arthur, to be sure, is a base, but only a secondary 
one, for a struggle of this kind. 

"No campaign prior to the Japanese-Russian war ever illustrated the 
advantages of being near at hand as well as the China campaign of 
1900. The Russians at Port Arthur and the Japanese at Nagaski 
were practically on the spot ; the English at Hongkong and the Ameri- 
cans at Manila, seven days away. These armies got there and were 
in from the beginning to the end. The others belonged to the class 
that 'also ran' in the list of winners. 

"As a distinguished but somewhat illiterate soldier has remarked, 
Tn a fight the man who gets there firstest with the mostest men wins 
the battle.' And there is Japan's advantage, Japan solved its land 
transportation problem by having coolies pack the supplies on their 
backs with a sort of sawbuck arrangement strapped under their arms. 
A Chinese or Korean coolie will carry in this way 100 to 125 pounds 
all day and keep up with the army. 

soldier's diets compared. 

"Here again the Japanese have an advantage. Their soldier's 
ration is made up of rice and fish, mostly rice. As every one knows, 
this is the principal food also of Korea and China, and large stores 
of it are found in every seaport. On rice alone the Japanese soldiers 
march and fight, and one coolie will carry a week's ration for ten 
men. This reduces the subsistence problem to a very easy one. 

"On the other hand, the Russian diet is bread and meat, and Into 
the Russian camps in China beeves and sheep were constantly being 
driven. 



i86 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

"The Japanese officer is also very simple in his tastes and habits, 
while the Russian is notoriously a high liver. 

"The supply of an army is the hardest problem — men well supplied 
will v/in victories, while the same men will run away if their stomachs 
are empty — and Japan has the advantage all the way through in the 
matter of supplies. 

"The Japanese officer is an earnest, enthusiastic man in his profes- 
sion, never missing an opportunity to learn, and willing to engage 
himself as a barber or coolie or enter into employment of any descrip- 
tion which will afford him the means of finding out something of the 
enemy's country. And I do not doubt but at this moment the Japanese 
know every detail of the Russian fortifications in the far East. Japan 
lays its plans beforehand in every little detail and follows them out. 
'We will enter Pekin on Aug. 14,' said Gen. Yamaguchi at the con- 
ference of generals at Tientsin, and on Aug. 14 Pekin was in the hands 

of the allies." 

Russia's war strength. 

Despite all comment to the contrary and the misfortunes that befell 
it early in the war the natural strength of Port Arthur is indisputable. 
This strength Russia took every means to increase. The fortress was 
made stronger on the sea front, the re-entrant form of the coast ena- 
bling the forts guarding the entrance to bring a converging fire on hos- 
tile ships, while the entrance to the harbor, six hundred yards wide, 
was protected by submarine mines and booms. 

On the land side there is a semicircle of hills two and a half miles 
from the dock yard, on which permanent works, connected by in- 
trenchments, were built. The Russians also threw a rampart around 
the place. The permanent garrison consists of 14,500 men, but more 
than thirty thousand were re\'ie\ved at Port Arthur a few weeks 
before the opening of war by Admiral Alexieff, the Viceroy in su- 
preme command of all the forces. 

Vladivostok, Russia's naval base in the Japan Sea, suffers in com- 
parison with Port Arthur by reason of its being ice-bound for several 
nionths in the winter. The town has about thirty thousand in- 



RUSSIA'S FIGHTING POWER. 



187 



habitants and has been rapidly growing since the completion of the 
Trans-Siberian Railway. 

Since January of 1903 Russia had steadily been increasing the 
number of her fighting ships in the far East, hoping to make her 
naval power more than a match for that which Japan could oppose to 
her. At that time the total tonnage of the Russian fleet on the Asiatic 
station was 90,000, but at the beginning of 1904 it stood at 200,000, 
as against Japan's 170,000, and other ships were on their way from 
Europe, which would make her superiority on paper even more 
manifest. 

At the opening of hostilities the Russian fleet on the Pacific station 
consisted of the following : 

BATTLESHIPS. 



Dis- Indi- Nomi- 

place- cated nal 
ment. Horse- Speed. 
Name. Tons. Power. Knots. 
Poltava, Petropavlovsk and 

Sevastopol ic)>950 1 1,200 17.0 

Retvisan 12,700 16,000 18.0 

Poresviet, Pobieda and *Osli- 

abia 12,674 14,500 19.0 

Czarevitch 13,100 16,300 18.0 

ARMORED CRUISERS. 

Cromoboi 12,336 18,000 20.0 

Bayan 7,800 17,000 22.0 

Rossia 12,200 18,000 20.0 

Rurik 10,940 13,500 18.0 

*Dmitri Donskoi 5,893 7,000 15.0 

PROTECTED CRUISERS. 

Bogatyr 6,750 19,500 23.0 

Askold 6,500 19,500 23.0 

Variag 6,500 20,000 23.0 

Diana, Pallada and * Aurora . . 6,630 11,600 20.0 





Weight 




of 


Gun 


Broad- 


Protec- 


side- 


tion. 


Fire 


In. 


Lbs. 


10—5 


Z^Z^7 


10—5 


3.434 


10 5 


2,672 


II— 6M 


3.516 


6—4^ 


1. 197 


7—Z 


952 


2 


1,348 


2 


1.345 


12 — 2 


444 


5—4 


^^2 


— 


77^ 


5 


510 


4^. 


^Z'2- 



i88 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Bayarin 3'200 11,500 22.0 — 130 

Novik 3,000 18,000 25.0 — 180 

*These vessels were on their way out, but had not yet arrived. 

There were besides, 7 gun vessels, 2 torpedo gunboats, 22 destroyers 
or torpedo boats and, in addition, many non-fighting vessels of differ- 
ent types, including some transports. 

The personnel was about 20,000. 

EUROPEAN FLEETS NOT CONSIDERED. 

This estimate ignores Russia's Baltic and Black Sea fleets practically 
bottled up thousands of miles away through existing treaties, although 
quietly making every effort to reach the front. 

Before the rapid increase during the preceding year of the Man- 
churian army by reinforcements in view of the impending struggle 
with Japan, the two Siberian army corps were constituted as follows : 

FIRST SIBERIAN ARMY CORPS. 

Battal- Squad- 
ions, rons. Guns. 
In Southern jManchuria, including troops at 

Kuang Fung 21 9 34 

Fortress battalions 2 — — 

In Pe-Chi-Li 12 5 44 

Frontier guards in the Amur Siberian 

districts 26 25 28 

Fortress battalions 2 — — 

In the Semirechernsk district, near Kul- 
In the Semirechernsk district, near 

Kuldja .- 8 22 28 

Detachments at Urza and Kuldja — 4 4 

SECOND SIBERIAN ARMY CORPS. 

In Province of Tsitsihar 12 24 22 

Third European Rifle Brigade 8 — — 

In Province of Kirin 26 29 102 

Fifth European and Sixth East Siberian 

Rifle Brigades 13 — 24 

Total 130 118 286 

This would give a total of nearly 160,000 men and 286 guns. 



RUSSIA'S FIGHTING POWER. 189 

Back of this force in Russia was an army awaiting mobilization 
and transportation including 627,000 infantry, 117,000 cavalry, 138,- 
000 artillery, 34,000 engineers, 34,000 members of departmental corps, 
60,000 Cossacks and 2,450,000 reserves, making a total possible war 
strength of 3,460,000 men. It is to be remembered, however, that 
Russia cannot withdraw her forces from European frontiers and 
waters at any time. For this reason the whole of Japan's strength 
was available against Russia's Asiatic forces. 

Russia's grim warrior leaders. 

No small interest attaches to the personnel of Russia's army, navy 
and ministry at such a time. Of this force the Czar's uncle, the 
Grand Duke Michael, was generally regarded as the Nestor of the 
Russian army. He played a leading part in the Russo-Turkish war, 
commanding the army of the Caucasus. He was ^2 years old, and not 
expected to take the field again. But he certainly helped to form Rus- 
sia's plan of campaign. 

This veteran prince should not be confounded with the younger 
Grand Duke Michael, the Czar's brother and heir to the Russian 
throne. The elder of the two Michaels became president of the com- 
mittee of ministers. Although himself an old war-horse, he was the 
strongest ally of M. Witte and Count Lamsdorff in their efforts to 
keep Russia at peace with the world. 

Count Lamsdorff, the foreign minister, was regarded in Russia as a 
very poor successor to such diplomatic giants as Ignatieff, Gortchakoff 
and Lobanoff. He was unpopular with the army, because he has always 
shown himself to be on the side of peace. 

Another grand duke, Alexieff Alevis Alexandrovitch, was the nomi- 
nal and theoretical head of the Russian navy, being "high admiral." 
He took keen interest in naval matters, but the practical control of 
them was in the hands of Vice-Admiral Tyrtow, who directed the min- 
istry of marine. 

Greater than all these in Russian esteem was Gen. Kouropatkin, at 
the opening^ of hostilities the Czar's minister of war, but afterward 



190 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

called to the active scene of hostilities. Kouropatkin was the head of 
the war party in Russia. He believes in pushing Russian troops to 
the uttermost ends of Asia. In the movements toward the Indian 
frontiers which have alarmed England in recent years, in the ab- 
sorption of Manchuria and in the threatened attacks on Korea liis 
hand was plainly seen by any one familiar with Russian politics. 

Before becoming minister of war Kouropatkin commanded the Rus- 
sian army. He is unquestionably Russia's greatest general. He is 
the idol of the army, for Skobeleff is a name to conjure with in the 
Russian service and he was the late Skobeleff's riglit-hand man in 
four campaigns — the Russo-Turkish war, the Khivan expedition and 
the Khokandese and ]\Ierv campaigns. 

The appointment of Gen. Kouropatkin, who was relieved of his 
functions as minister of war, to the chief command of the Russian 
army in the far East was gazetted as soon as the seriousnesses of the 
situation impressed Russia. 

With the possible exception of Gen. Dragomiroff, formerly gover- 
nor-general of Kiev and later member of the council of state, Gen. 
Kouropatkin is the most popular man in the Russian army. As a 
bluff old soldier who has fought his way up from the bottom to be 
minister of war he is the ideal of the enlisted men. Not one in the 
Czar's army has seen more fighting and no one can tell a story bet- 
ter. There is never a dull moment in his company, for he intermingles 
the humorous incidents of his campaign with tales of the self-sacrifice 
of tlie men whom he led Avith Skobeleff over the parched wastes of 
Geok-Tepe or over the icy slopes of Plevna. 

The Emperor and Empress gave a luncheon to Gen. Kouropatkin 
and the grand dukes at the Alexandra palace, Tsarke-Selo, before the 
start for the front, and bade them farewell. 

The appointment of Gen. Kouropatkin to direct command in the 
field was received with enthusiasm and his leadership inspired com^ 
plete confidence that there would be no further mistakes and that 
Russian arms would be carried to success on land. 



RUSSIA'S FIGHTING POWER. 191 

Gen, Koiiropatkin was accompanied to the front by the Grand Dukes 
Boris, Alexis, Nicholas and Michael Nikolaievitch. 

A MUSCOVITE CONSTRUCTIVE GENIUS. 

One of Kouropatkin's strongest supporters was Gen. Annenkoff, 
who made a great reputation by building strategic railways in Central 
Asia, and was the father of the vast scheme for a Trans-Siberian line 
to the Pacific. He first outlined that plan in detail during a visit to 
Paris in 1891. Many so-called "practical men" laughed at him then, 
but his ideas have since produced the greatest railroad in the world, 
at an admitted cost of $275,000,000 if not much more. 

Michael Annenkoff was born in 1838 and received his first com- 
mission in the Russian army in 1863. He is an older veteran than 
Kouropatkin, for he served as a staff captain during the Polish in- 
surrection and rose to the rank of colonel at the age of 28. He was 
with the Germans during the Franco-Prussian war as Russian attache 
and acted as one of Skobeleff's chief staff officers in the Merv cam- 
paign. 

Another well-known Russian soldier who played a leading part in 
the war was Gen. Obrubcheff. He was the hero of a hundred desper- 
ate fights in the Central Asian campaigns and enjoyed a greater repu- 
tation for personal courage than probably any other Russian general. 

Gen. Bobrikoff, the governor-general of Finland, was another able 
commander, but he had a reputation for extreme harshness and even 
cruelty. His recent administration of Finland had not changed that 
reputation. He was credited with great influence in the council of state 
and tlie committee of ministers, the two bodies which formulate and 
execute Russian policy. He was a warm friend and ally of his old com- 
rade, Gen. Kouropatkin. 

Kouropatkin himself became the hero of the Russian army, second 
only to his great leader, Skobeleff, who died in 1882, by his bravery 
and fine generalship at the capture of Geok Tepe in 1882. 

When the Russians, balked of their dreams of winning Constanti- 
nople by the Berlin congress, were making their great swoop through 



192 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Central Asia to the gates of Herat, Lord Salisbury told the British 
public not to be alarmed for the safety of India. "They will not be 
able to conquci" the Turcomans," he declared. "The Turcoman bar- 
rier will last for our life-time, at least." 

FAME SULLIED BY SLAUGHTER. 

Gen. Tergoukasoff, the Russian commander in Central Asia, dis- 
agreed with Lord Salisbury. He told the Czar that the Turcomans 
might be conquered by three years' hard fighting, "That is too long," 
said the Czar. He recalled Tergoukasoff and sent the greatest of 
modern Russian warriors, Skobeleff, to command the troops. Skobe- 
leff promptly secured Kouropatkin for his chief lieutenant and to- 
gether they performed in a few weeks the task w^hich the British 
premier declared would take a lifetime. 

Geok Tepe, the great stronghold of the Turcomans, w^as carried 
by assault after a month's siege. The brunt of the attack fell on 
Kouropatkin, who commanded a contingent of light troops from 
Turkestan. It was a great victory, but it sullied the reputation of 
both the Russian leaders. They ordered their troops to give no quar- 
ter to the Turcomans of either sex and all the horrors usual when such 
orders are given were perpetrated, over 14,000 being slaughtered in 
action and in helpless retreat. 






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i^^lSHOP BLESSING REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE FAR EAST. 

In the Japanese- Russian War, Church and State worked hand in hand to Inspire the 
Russian troops with confidence and valor. The final start for the far East was never made 
without the blessing of the Church, and the Czar was also often present to add to the 
impressiveness of the scene. (93) 








HUNTER SCOUTS IN A NIGHT RECONNOITER. 

The hunter or night scouts formed a peculiar branch of the Russian service. Sixteen 
of the best sharpshooters were selected from an infantry regiment and formed into a bat- 
talion, commanded by one or more officers. They were for special xiight service, and wera 
required to have their bayonets always fixed. /95\ 




TYPES OF RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE SOLDIERS. 

At THE left are the Japanese artillery, cavalry, and infantry; at the right, the Russian 
Cossack, trooper, and artillerymen. In the center is one of the first-class Russian battle- 
ships, a giant of the line. (97) 




TROOPS STARTING FROM PORT ARTHUR TO KOREA. 

At the beginning of the war, when Viceroy Alexieff removed his headquarters from 
Port Arthur to Harbin, some of the garrison troops were started for the Korean frontier 
where the mam Russian Army was massing. They are seen in this picture marching 
through the main street of Port Arthur. .^^ 




RUSSIAN LEGATION GUARDS ARRIVING AT SEOUL. 

SHORTLY-prior to the opening of the war the Russians were refused permission to allow 
a force of guards to go by rail from Chemulpo to the Korean capital, for the ostensible pur- 
pose of protecting the Russian legation. They, therefore, marched on foot, and are here 
seen entering Seoul. . (I7) 



CHAPTER XIV. 
TORPEDO WARFARE OF JAPAN. 

Japs Study Torpedo Warfare Closely — Inexpensive Hornet Can Destroy Millions — 
Terrors Suffered by Crew — The Modern Mechanical Fish — Close View of the 
Death Dealers — Cared for Like Hospital Patient. 

NOT in her splendidly equipped army nor her navy, bristling 
with guns, lay Japan's principal element of strength when the 
little Red Ant turned on the Great Bear. Her chief advan- 
tage lay in her proximity to the field of operations, her conveniently 
located bases of supply, the wonderful oriental mobility of her army, 
her complete preparedness, the tremendous disadvantage under which 
her enemy labored, and greater than all the remarkable proficiency of 
her men with that hitherto experimental weapon — the torpedo boat. 
It is, therefore, that naval novelty that will first be considered. 

JAPS STUDY TORPEDO WARFARE CLOSELY. 

No navy has more persistently devoted itself to the offensive uses 
of the self-propelling torpedo than that of Japan. Its drills have 
been constant. Its torpedo craft are of the best — if not the best — in 
the world. It has boats which can make thirty-one knots per hour. 
It had eighty-six of them of all classes, with eighteen more build- 
ing at the opening of the war. They were fitted with from three to 
six torpedo tubes each. 

The practice maneuvers for years had taken place often with the 
entire Japanese fleet mobilized, and during these every kind of tor- 
pedo attack had been rehearsed again and again with oriental minute- 

209 



210 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

ness. Over all a rigid censorship had been maintained, whereby, 
despite lynx-eyed naval attaches and the keen watchfulness of news- 
paper correspondents, Japan liad kept her secrets to herself, and merely 
let it be known tliat the efficiency of the torpedo flotilla had been 
keyed up to the last limit and would be kept there. 

INEXPENSIVE "hornet" CAN DESTROY MILLIONS. 

That torpedo boats, the hornets of the navy, costing only about 
$300,000 each, could destroy $4,000,000 and $5,000,000 battleships 
and escape injury, as was demonstrated by the Japanese in the attack 
on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, set naval officers throughout the 
world to thinking. 

"What's the use of battleships and protected cruisers," laymen asked 
themselves, "when these little boats can destroy the biggest of them?" 

Battleships and cruisers are as great a necessity for torpedo boat 
warfare as is the torpedo boat to the battleship and cruisers. The 
swiftly moving little torpedo boat frequently must seek refuge behind 
the floating fortresses of steel, just as the torpedo boat flotilla is ex- 
pected to protect the battleship and cruiser from the attacks of the 
torpedo boats of the enemy. 

The first naval engagement of Japan and Russia convinced officers 
that the torpedo boat flotilla of a navy could no longer be regarded 
as a hindrance and bother. 

"The most destructive instruments of war today are the torpedo 
])oats and the Whitehead torpedo," declared one of the high ranking 
naval officers of the United States. "A torpedo boat under favor- 
able conditions, and favorable conditions frequently arise, can do more 
damage by the discharge of one Whitehead torpedo than can the 
expenditure of $1,000,000 worth of ammunition in such a contest as 
was fought at Santiago." 

LIFE ON THE TINY CRAFT. 

The torpedo boats are little known to the general public. There 
have been few books written about them and naval officers do not, 
as a rule, seek assignments to them, for their work aboard one of 



TORPEDO WARFARE OF JAPAN. 211 

these little destroyers is laborious, uncomfortable and dirty in the 
extreme. Officers and men have to sleep when they can; eat when 
they can, but be ready to fight at every minute of the 24 hours 
of the day and night. 

In war time their lot is even worse than on board any of the bat- 
tleships, cruisers, or even of the little gunboats. Torpedo boat men 
and officers are in constant peril of death by foundering, explosion 
of torpedoes, collision, the breaking in half of the boat, and a hundred 
other dangers, not to mention the possibility of destruction by the fire 
of the enemy, for the torpedo boat is thin-skinned, and can be pierced 
by the projectiles of the small caliber guns. 

The torpedo boat is the outcome of the invention of the Whitehead 
automobile torpedo. The Whitehead torpedo has been brought to 
a state of perfection undreamed of in the earlier days of its inven- 
tion. 

Originally designed to be fired from the battleships and cruisers, 
experience soon taught that to be of any service the torpedo must 
be discharged in a way combining the maximum of effect with the 
minimum of risk. 

EVOLUTION OF THE TORPEDO BOAT. 

It was soon demonstrated there was no possibility of a battleship 
sneaking up to the fleet of an enemy and discharging its torpedo and 
escaping without subjecting itself to the combined fire of the entire 
fleet. 

Out of this condition came the torpedo boat, designed to combine 
great speed and a small target for the fire of the enemy. So great 
has the improvement been that the modern torpedo boat compares 
with the earlier models about as much as does a ferryboat with one 
of the latest ocean flyers. 

The torpedo boat, to be effective, must have speed enough to dart 
in among the fleet of an enemy, discharge its torpedo and, turning, 
show a clean pair of heels. The modern torpedo boat is not a pretty 
thing to look at. It is the modern boat which resembles "the long, 



212 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

low, rakish craft" of fiction. It is always pretty nearly awash, painted 
a dirty drab color, its brass fittings are never polished, and there is 
not a speck of white paint about it. 

Since 1890 the United States has added some 50 of these little 
boats to its navy, and there are now in process of construction many 
more. During recent years naval officers have held that the torpedo 
boat was not worth much, but this has changed within the past few 
years. The torpedo boats of the United States navy, like those of 
Japan, represent the acme of torpedo boat building. These two coun- 
tries waited until the other governments had experimented along 
various lines and then profited by their successes and failures. 

JAPAN ORDERS THEM IN SCORES. 

As late as 1898 Japan was ordering torpedo boats by the score and 
has perhaps developed this branch of naval tactics more than any 
other nation. While Japan has not the large number of boats that 
Russia has, its boats are in better condition, more modern and much 
speedier than those of Russia. 

Now practically every country in the world is adding torpedo 
i^oats to its navy. Because of the small cost of these vessels great 
numbers have been ordered by most of the governments. 

Little opportunity was given during the American war with Spain 
to test torpedo boats, but their absolute seaworthiness was shown by 
those brought over from Spain by Admiral Cervera with his fleet. The 
famous trip of the battleship Oregon from the Pacific to the block- 
ading station off Santiago came very nearly not being made, because 
of the fear of the Spanish torpedo boat Temeraro on the western coast 
of South America. 

In addition to their destructiveness in actual operation, the mere 
presence of torpedo boats with a fleet or in a vicinity is a constant 
menace to any fleet and excites the greatest fear among the men-of- 
warsmen. 

The torpedo boats of the United States navy have been built for 
service and not for looks. Few of them have cost over $250,000 and 



TOPEDO WARFARE OF JAPAN. 213 

many of them less than $200,000 This, of course, does not include 
the armament. Complete, the government estimates that a torpedo 
boat costs $300,000. 

These torpedo boats have from two to three 18-inch Whitehead 
torpedo tubes and three or four one-pounder rapid-fire guns. These 
rapid-fire guns are for the protection of the torpedo boats when at- 
tacked by similar craft or by torpedo boat destroyers. 

HOW A TORPEDO CR\FT IS MANNED. 

Each boat carries from two to three officers and a crew varying 
from 20 to 60 men. The larger crews are carried only by the tor- 
pedo boat destroyers, which are in reality only enlarged torpedo boats 
and are expected to perform exactly the same service. The destroy- 
ers offer a greater target to the enemy, and maneuvers in France and 
England have shown that a flotilla of torpedo boats can not only 
escape from the destroyers, but can frequently capture the destroyers. 

There is a great opportunity for them to do the latter, for the little 
boats go swinging and plunging through the water at express train 
speed. The result is that the boats are racked not only by the tre- 
mendous and powerful engines, but by the waves as well. The sailor 
has no regular hours. He goes to bed pretty much as he pleases 
and gets up when it is his turn to go on watch. 

Torpedo boat sailors, and even the officers for that matter, do not 
present the spick and span appearance of their brethren on the larger 
ships. 

They have a contempt for the bigger ships and believe that the tor- 
pedo boat on which they are serving could whip the entire navy. Be- 
cause of the limited space aboard these little vessels the men off duty 
do not have the enjoyment of those aboard the larger ships. At night 
the officers sleep on the bunk lockers on each side of the cabin and the 
crew on mattresses or hammocks on the lower deck. Liquid com- 
passes are necessary because of the vibration and motion of the boat. 

The rations aboard a torpedo boat are the same as those served on 
any other vessel of the navy, except that a predominance of canned 



214 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

foods, such as meats, soups, etc., are furnished, because they occupy 
less storage room and are more easily prepared. It is no easy matter 
for the most experienced sea cook to prepare even the simplest meal 
on board one of these little boats when the commanding officer has 
run "Full speed ahead." 

An English officer, in describing his sensations at sea in a torpedo 
boat, once said : "It takes two men to eat a can of sardines ; one 
to hold the can and the other to eat." 

TERRORS SUFFERED BY CREW. 

Sandwiches form an important adjunct to the menu of the torpedo 
boat sailor when at sea. He has little time to eat anything else, even 
though the motion of the vessel would permit it. Even sleeping in 
a hammock or on a bunk is an art on a torpedo boat. No sailor ever 
gets his sea legs aboard one of the little vessels, for he is likely to be 
seasick at almost any instant. Some of the older sailors of the navy 
who have forgotten that they were ever seasick look like a man making 
his first trip after a few hours aboard one of the vibrating, trembling 
little boats. 

Lieutenant Commander Frank F. Fletcher, U. S. N., commandant 
of the United States naval torpedo station, ^yhose inventions of tor- 
pedo appliances and long experience with these dangerous projectiles 
have caused him to become recognized as one of the ablest torpedo 
officers in the service of the United States, is an enthusiast in the 
matter of the efficiency of torpedoes in warfare, and a lecture he de- 
livered at the United States Naval War College upon the history of 
the use of torpedoes, which has never been published, is of especial 
hiterest. 

The lecture makes a record of every attack made in the world 
with torpedoes from the time of the civil war through the Russo- 
Turkish campaign, during which the old spar torpedo gave way to 
the present automobile, down to the very beginning of the present 
war in the far East. It is perhaps the only record of its kind in 
existence. 



TORPEDO WARFARE OF JAPAN. 215 

There are recorded in his files fifteen attacks with spar torpedoes, 
which were atUcIied to fast launches by means of a spar, of which 
Lieutenant Commander Fletcher says a good percentage were suc- 
cessful. Boats engaged in these attacks in which three hundred 
and fifty men participated. Nine per cent of the boats were lost and 
three per cent of the men were killed. On the other hand, six ships 
were sunk and three damaged, while five hundred lives were lost. 
Sixteen torpedoes were exploded, forty-five per cent of which proved 
fatal to the ship attacked. 

With the automobile torpedo nine attacks have been made, and of 
them Lieutenant Commander Fletcher has summarized as follows : 
Five hundred men took part, and the loss of life was only two per 
cent. Thirty-two torpedoes were discharged, and nine of them made 
hits, sinking eight vessels, the percentage of hits being over twenty- 
eight per cent. 

"Thus," says Lieutenant Commander Fletcher, "the crucial test 
of v/ar shows that the torpedo within its range is more accurate than 
the gun in battle." 

In his very interesting lecture Lieutenant Commander Fletcher goes 
into details in the matter of the various attacks. Boat attacks with 
spar torpedoes, originating in the ciWl war, covered a period of twenty 
years and were employed in four wars. Attacks with the auto- 
mobile torpedo have covered about the same period, and have been 
also employed in four wars, in which seven nations have been en- 
gaged. 

RESULTS CAREFULLY TABULATED. 

The first attack with a spar torpedo was made against the Ironsides 
at 9 p. m. October 5, 1863, while the vessel was lying at anchor off 
Charleston. The Ironsides was severely injured, but not to such an 
extent that she had to be withdrawn from service. 

The second attack was made on the Housatonic, four months later, 
also off Charleston. It was moderately dark, and the Housatonic 
was sunk, with a loss of five lives. The torpedo boat was sunk, with 
the loss of nine lives. 



2i6 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

The third attack ^^•as made against the ^Memphis, in the North 
Edisto River, at i a. m., Alarch 6, 1864. The attack failed, and 
the torpedo boat escaped. 

The fourth attack was made upon the iMinnesota, off Newport 
News, April, 1864. Although the boat had been seen, she succeeded 
in exploding her torpedo amidships and doing much damage. The 
boat and her crew escaped. 

The fifth attack was made upon the Wabash, on blockade off 
Charleston, in April, 1864. The attack was discovered and aban- 
doned. 

The sixth attack was the famous case of the Albermarle, which 
occurred in October, 1864, the vessel being moored in the Roanoke 
River. It was the event that made Lieutenant Gushing famous. The 
torpedo boat was discovered, but she pushed on through a very severe 
fire. The torpedo was successfully exploded against the ship, which 
was sunk. Of the crew of the torpedo boat only two lost their lives, 
they being drowned. 

The seventh attack was made by the Russians against Turkish 
vessels in the Black Sea, in ]\Iay, 1877. Torpedo boats fitted with 
spar torpedoes failed to do any damage and escaped without loss. 

In the eighth attack, which was made in the Danube in May, 1877, 
one vessel was sunk by four launches. 

In the ninth attack, which was made off the mouth of the Danube 
in June, 1877, although participated ix\ by five Russian launches, the 
ships of the enemy escaped damage. 

The tenth attack also occurred in the Danube, in June, 1877, and 
was also a failure. It was attempted in daylight. 

The eleventh attack was also a broad daylight affair. It was 
made by two boats against a Turkish monitor in the Danube, and 
was a complete failure. 

The twelfth attack took place in the Black Sea in August, 1877, 
against a Turkish fieet, which escaped injury. The boats, though, 
got within torpedo range, and there was no good reason why the 
ships were not sunk. 



TOPEDO WARFARE OF JAPAN. 217 

No other noteworthy use of the movable mine took place in the 
Franco-Prussian war of 1871, the Russo-Turkish war of 1877, or 
the Chinese-French war of 1884, although in this period the "fish" 
torpedo together with the specially contrived and fast torpedo boat 
from which to project it, rapidly developed. 

The first direct test of the modern automobile torpedo against a 
battleship took place in the Bay of Valparaiso during the Chilean 
revolution of 1891, when the Blanco Encelada, an armored Congres- 
sist vessel, was sunk with her entire crew of 120 men by the Bal- 
macedist torpedo boat Condell. 

The second attack was made upon the Brazilian battleship Aquid- 
aban in 1894 during the revolutionary troubles, but is of little im- 
portance in view of the wretched defence, and the fact that the as- 
saulting craft fired three torpedoes at ranges of 100 and 75 yards, 
and only succeeded in hitting the Aquidaban, a vessel 280 feet long, 
at a distance of 150 feet. 

japan's first use of torpedo boats. 

The third and far more important effort occurred in the harbor 
of Wei-Hai-Wei nine years before the opening of hostilities 
between Japan and Russia, when a Chinese squadron, protected by a 
double line of submarine mines and other obstructions, w^as bottled 
by the Japanese fleet under Admiral Ito. Two successive attempts 
to send in torpedo boats failed through the alertness and energetic 
fire of the Chinese. On the third occasion seven boats effected an 
entrance, and the battleship Ting Yuen was promptly sunk. But 
of the assailants, one was torn to pieces by a well placed shell, three 
went aground, two smashed their prop.ellers on the rocks and the 
survivor rejoined the fleet unharmed, but with her captain frozen 
to death in his conning tower. The undaunted Japs attacked again 
on the following night, and sent three Chinese ships to the bottom. 

Exactly how the Japanese torpedo attack on Port Arthur on Feb. 
8 was made seems to be somewhat in question. That the Russians 
were caught unprepared — and all accounts so indicate — is most 



2i8 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

astounding. If America did not teach anyone how to use torpedo 
boats offensively in the recent war with Spain she certainly provided 
the v/orld with elaborate information how to guard against them. 
The reports of Russian neglect may not be true — and for the credit 
of the Russian navy it is to be hoped they are not — but if they are 
true, somebody's existence probably came to a sudden and startling 
termination — a just punishment. 

CLOSE VIEW OF THE DEATH DEALER. 

A Whitehead torpedo, such as were employed by Japan in this 
action, is a cigar-shaped object made of steel or bronze or any rust- 
resisting metal, 21 inches in diameter and from 15 to 20 feet in 
length. The "warnose" is on the blunt end of the "fish" torpedo. 
This is the end that strikes the ship or other object, and by means of 
a rod driven against a detonator causes the explosion of the 200 
pounds of guncotton, dynamite, nitroglycerin or other explosive in 
the chamber. Behind the chamber filled with the explosive is a 
cylinder, charged with compressed air, which furnishes the motive 
power for the propeller of the torpedo. Back of the compressed air 
cylinder is the "balance chamber," where the automatic steering 
apparatus is located, and behind this is the engine room. 

The torpedo is fitted with four rudders, two horizontal and two 
vertical, which are for the purpose of keeping the torpedo at the 
proper depth. 

The torpedo is fired from the bow or stern of a vessel, either from 
a submerged tube or from a tube on deck. The torpedo is started 
by being blown out either by compressed air or by a small charge of 
powder. 

A torpedo tube, of which there are usually three on a torpedo boat's 
deck, is a huge metal pipe open at one end, the other closed by a door. 
Much complicated mechanism is necessary to fire a torpedo from a 
torpedo boat. The sighting and everything is done from the decks, 
although the tube may be submerged or partially submerged. 

The deadly mechanical fish dives into the water like a porpoise, 



TORPEDO WARFARE OF JAPAN. 219 

adjusts itself to the desired depth, and then at a speed of thirty 
miles an hour goes straight at its prey. Its effective range at the 
present time is about 1,500 yards, but experiments in our own navy 
have proved that torpedo boats can creep as near as 400 yards to a 
ship before being revealed by searchlights. 

After the torpedo has once started, there is no known defense 
which an attacked vessel can interpose. Nets have been long obso- 
lete; and, in fact, cannot be used when a ship is under way. The 
only possible safeguard other than the attacked vessel's quick-fire 
guns, which, of course, assumes a discovery of the advancing torpedo 
boats, is a cordon of torpedo boat destroyers maintained around a 
battleship at such a distance as will enable them to drive off or de- 
stroy the torpedo boats before these can launch their torpedoes. 

Ships actually in harbors have resorted to the ancient method of 
a heavy chain drawn across the waterway, as Cervera did in Santiago, 
but this will only be effective against light torpedo boats, so that it 
would be necessary merely to send a heavier vessel against it in the 
beginning to break it down and open a free passage for them. Mod- 
ern torpedo progress is chiefly in the direction of increasing the ef- 
fective range, and it is believed at the present timie that before long 
this will be augmented to something over two miles. In this case 
the difficulties of defense by ships in open water will be greatly in- 
creased. The late John Ericsson always maintained that "a battle- 
ship is nothing but torpedo food," and in such things he was given to 
good judgment. 

CARED FOR LIKE HOSPITAL PATIENT. 

Every torpedo is thoroughly tested before it is placed aboard a 
torpedo boat and frequently thereafter to see that it does not develop 
any peculiarity unknown to the commanding ofBcer. A torpedo has 
a chart which is kept up and studied as zealously by the commanding 
officer of the torpedo boat as is the chart of a typhoid fever patient by 
the attending physician. 

The Whitehead torpedoes require an unusual amount of care be- 



220 



THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 



cause of the delicate mechanism. A Whitehead torpedo carries 
enough explosives to blow up any battleship if it strikes fair. The 
torpedoes cost on an average of $5,000 each and the United States 
government keeps 1,000 or more of them at the various navy yards. 
The general torpedo depot is at Newport. 

It is safe to assume in the absence of access to the carefully guarded 
Japanese naval secrets that the Japanese system differs little from 
that of the United States. Physical conditions practically guaranee 
that to be the case. Of course methods of approaching the enemy 
differ. Then, too, in this war Japan enjoyed unusual opportunities 
for gathering complete detailed information concerning the enemy. 

It is certain that the commanders of her torpedo boats knew the 
Russian signal code and used it to the bitter cost of their victims. 
So much for this important feature of the war. 




A Case of Two Heads Better than One. 



CHAPTER XV. 
JAPAN^S NAVAL POWER. 

Ready to Fight Without Pay— What Warships' Names Mean— Poetry in Each- 
Pagan Heroine Honored — Love of Island Home Shown. 

THE brilliant naval showing made by the Japanese navy at the 
beginning of the war indicates that the whole subject of offen- 
sive attack had been elaborately studied and worked out before 
hostilities began. No more impressive argument in support of a gen- 
eral staff for the navy has ever been adduced. The Japanese have such 
a general staff and have had it for years. Its functions are not differ- 
ent from those which it is proposed the American staff shall have. It 
controlled and prescribed all the maneuvers described. It determined 
the character of the ships, how they were built, where obtained ; and, 
on the whole, the Japanese navy as it stands is the product and out- 
come of the established general staff. 

At the beginning of the war no one regarded Japan as a first class 
power, still she was classed with Italy, Austria and Turkey and ahead 
of all the other civilized countries except the United States, Great 
Britain, France, Germany and Russia. She had been quietly plugging 
away on a well planned and definite system for eight years. For 
two years, at least, she had been preparing for this very struggle. 
In that she was wiser than Russia. 

JAPAN^S WONDERFUL ADVANCEMENT. 

The marvelous valor and esprit du corps of her men in the Pekin 
campaign startled the world. The shrewdness and tactical ability of 



222 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

her officers opened the eyes of the generals of the other forces, in- 
chiding our own. All of this means something; it must mean that 
Japan has made wonderful strides in a military way since last she 
was in the limelight of the God of War. 

Japan has had the best of tutors and she is the best of students. 
Her officers and. men possess the very arrogance of confidence — con- 
ceit, critics say — and before this confidence will lose its upholding 
power the men must be dead. Her leaders were wise enough to know 
that she had caught Russia afoul, and calculated on no let-up in a 
vigorous campaign. 

Japanese leaders felt that the boast that Russia could pour 500,000 
troops into Manchuria with their supplies was pure bluff. They cal- 
culated it would take the complete machinery of the Trans-Siberian 
Railway four months to carry 100,000, and that it would exhaust 
the resources of the road to bring war supplies for the men then in 
Manchuria for two months of precious time. Japan knew that the 
Russian fleet had a coal supply for only a few weeks and could get 
no more ; that neither the Port Arthur nor the Vladivostok squadrons 
could get out alive ; she knew that she had prepared to blow up a hun- 
dred bridges and culverts of the great feeding road. 

The collapse of the northern Colossus at the touch of Ithuriel's 
spear, in the hands of the Mikado, was not a vision to be accepted 
with grace by the military lords of Europe, save those whose jealousy 
of Russia is inherent. From the latter Japan could figure on ready 
loans. Her shipyards and facilities for making hurried naval repairs 
were the finest on the Pacific. 

READY TO FIGHT WITHOUT PAY. 

The Japs have one of the greatest patriotic armies in the world; 
the men will fight without pay if necessary. The men could live on a 
pound of rice a day, while the Russian soldier required meat and 
other things to go with it. On the one side no great amount of camp 
equipage was necessary, while on the other there must be ten pounds 
to a man. The Jap does not worry about clothes and he figures on 



JAPAN'S NAVAL POWER. 223 

keeping active enough to make up for cumbersome uniforms. With 
rice and all kinds of cereals in great quantities on hand, as well as 
millions of pounds of canned beef, and the wide ocean open to get 
more, what feared the Jap of the mighty Russian army? 

Japan had no battleships in her war with China ten years before, 
but her cruisers made short work of the bigger Chinese ships in 
the Yalu River battle and at Wei-Hai-Wei. Since then she had built 
a complete fleet, every class being fully represented by vessels equipped 
in the best known and latest fashion. At the opening of hostilities 
she possessed fourteen first class modern armored ships, six being 
battleships and eight large cruisers, the latter really being battleships 
in disguise. 

The following table affords an excellent idea of the character of 
her 114 vessels, requiring 31,379 officers and men and a reserve of 
6,267 • 

ByVTTLESHIPS. PROTECTED CRUISERS. 

First Class. Second Class. 

Displacement, Kasagi 4,978 

Name. Tons. Chitose 4,836 

Mikasa 15443 Itsukushinia 4,278 

Matsusi 15.240 Hashidate 4,278 

Asahi 15443 Matsuhima 4,278 

Shikishima i5>o66 Takasago 4,227 

Yashima 12,517 Yoshino 4,225 

Tuji 12,649 Namvv^a 3,709 

Second Class. Takashibo 3,709 



Chin Yen 7,335 

Tuso 3^777 



ARMORED CRUISERS. 



PROTECTED CRUISERS. 

Third Class. 

Akitsushima 3J72 

Adsuma 945^ Idsumo 2,967 

Yakumo 9,800 Akashi 2,800 

Iwate 9,906 Suma 2,700 

Idsumo 9,906 Chijoda 2,439 

Takiwa 9,655 Mitaka 3420 

Asama 9>855 Tsushima 3420 



224 



THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 



Otono 3'000 

DISrATCII BOATS. 

Miyako i ,800 

Yayeyama i ,609 

Chihaye 1,250 

Tatsiits 865 

COAST DEFENSE VESSELS. 

Saiyen 2,481 

Hiyei 2,284 

Kongo 2,284 

Tsukuba i ,978 

Takao i ,7^4 

Tanriu i ,647 

Katsuraki 1,502 

Yamato 1.502 

Kannon i'367 

Miisashi 1,502 

GUNBOATS. 

First Class. 

Kei Yen 2,185 

Tsuktishi 1.372 

GUNBOATS. 

Second Class. 

Amaki 926 

Banjo 667 

Oshima 640 

Akagi 622 

Atako 622 

Maya 622 



Chokai 622 

Sako 610 

Gunboats, second class, old, no 

.fighting value; captured from 

China; each 447 tons — Chinto, 

Chinsei, Chinnan, Shinhoku, 

Shincha, Chinpeu. 

TORPEDO BOAT DESTROYERS. 

Shiskumo 379 

Asashio 379 

Hamsame 375 

Murasame 375 

Akatuski 371 

Kasuma 371 

Ikatsuchi 371 

Inadsuma 3 1 1 

Okebono 311 

Sazanami 311. 

Oboro 311 

Shinonome 279 

Murakumo 279 

Yugiri 279 

Shiramu 279 

Kagoro 279 

Usugunu 279 

Asagiri 380 

Hayatori 380 

TORPEDO BOATS. 

13 120-150 

36 80-90 

27 40-65 



WHAT WARSHIPS NAMES MEAN. 



In considering the strange names given the Japanese vessels it 
must be borne in mind that war craft and vessels of commerce have 
their own special words in the Japanese tongue. The latter class, 
from the big ocean liner of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha to the little 



JAPAN'S NAVAL POWER. 225 

trader or roofed-in junk going around the islands, bears the appella- 
tion of "Maru." This word, which is also used for a sword, and 
for the white and red flag of the empire, properly meaning a "circle," 
is always tacked on to passenger or trading craft, and so distinguishes 
them. The word for a man-of-war, from the superb Mikasa or Fuji, 
is "Gun-Kan." But the Japanese drop the epithet, not saying or 
writing "Mikasa-Gun-Kan," buf only "Mikasa." What does this 
signify? Simply, it is the name of a lofty and famous mountain 
near Nara, in the Japanese province of Yamato, and means "the 
ridge of three hats," its summit wearing the shape of the umbrella- 
like headpiece which pilgrims carry. This mountain has been much 
celebrated in native poetry. 

Take next the battleship Matsuse. This, again, is taken from a 
locality much praised by poets, near Nara, and quite a household 
word among the people. 

POETRY IN EACH. 

Next comes to mind the Asahi. That signifies "the morning sun," 
which luminary is at once an object universally praised and rever- 
enced in Japan, as well as being the symbol and national badge of 
the empire. It is ''Asahi" which figures in blazing scarlet of dawn 
on the standard of Dai Nippon. Shikishima is yet another synonym 
for the land of the rising sun, frequently employed in poetry. There 
is heed of little explanation of the title bestowed on the sister bat- 
tleship, Fuji. Everybody knows how central and integral a factor 
in Japanese art and life is that beautiful and stately mountain rising 
so proudly from the Pacific waves which bathe its feet, and how 
that lovely and wonderful peak soars into the southern clouds, eter- 
nally crowned with a glittering diadem of snow. 

Yashima, enrolled on the catalogue of the chief naval line, recalls 
the story, not of a mountain, but of a famous battlefield on the 
coast of Sanuko, where the great combat befell between Heishi and 
Henji. 

In the name of Hiyei, a coast defense boat, we come back to cele- 



226 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

bratecl hills, while another similar craft of the Mikado's fleet wears the 
name of Kongo, the "diamond" hill in Kawashi, associated with 
the strong and splendid years of a bygone dynasty. One armored 
cruiser is called Iwate, from a fertile province, while Idsumo brings 
to every Japanese mind the sacred spot where Susanoo-no-Mikoto 
alighted when expelled from heaven for his sins. 

PAGAN HEROINE HONORED. 

Another armored ship bears the familiar title of Adsuma, the 
appellation of a whole district beyond Hakone to the eastward. And 
was it not so called because of Adsuma, faithful and famous wife of 
Yamato-dakeno Mikoto? Crossing the sea to lead his army, the 
hero was overtaken by a storm, in which he would have perished but 
for the devotion of his beautiful wife. Believing that the god of the 
sea had been incensed, and would not be pacified except by the loss 
of some life precious to Japan, she resolved to immolate herself in 
order to propitiate the deity, and therefore, wrapping her body in her 
robe of gold and scarlet, plunged into the furious billows and was 
drowned. As she sank out of the reach of those who would have 
saved her, if possible, by the surrender of their own lives, the sea 
became almost immediately tranquil, and Yamato-dakeno safely 
landed and defeated the enemies of his country. Ever since then all 
those regions have borne the name made noble by this self-immola- 
tion of the Japanese princess, so that a ship-of-war may also proudly 
bear it. 

LOVE OF ISLAND HOME SHOWN. 

Among the "protected" class you will observe Chitose, meaning 
a thousand years, a word of prosperity; Kasagi, a spot famous in 
Japanese history, belonging to Yamashiro ; Takasago, a place much 
praised by poets for its exquisite scenery, on the sea coast, near 
Akashi; Akitsushima, a notable appellation, for it signifies "the 
dragon fly," the accepted badge of the whole archipelago. 

It will thus be seen, even by so brief a survey, that the Japanese 
carry ardent love of their Own beautiful land out upon the element 



JAPAN'S NAVAL POWER. 



22"^ 



which surrounds it, upon the flags and nameboards of their ships of 
war, making the mountains, the flowery plains, the blossoming groves, 
and the sparkling streams of Dai Nippon points of recollection, loyalty 
and patriotism for the sailor as well as for the soldier and the citizen. 
Broadly speaking, the big ships have been christened after great 
mountains, and their smaller sisters from some well known natural 
feature of the country. 




ENGLAND— "You take 'im by the horns and I'll catch 'im by the tail." 




MARS — "KEEP COOL, DOGS; THEY'RE BOTH IN THE POT!" 

the Dogs of War, tooth Army and Navy, are waiting for their grewsome meal which Mars 
preparing. Russia and Japan are boiling in the pot. 




CHAPTER XVI. " 
JAPAN'S LAND FORCES. 

Japanese Leaders Reviewed— Yamagata Had Rapid Rise— Negotiated Troublesome 
Treaty— Swept Chinese Away— How Jap Soldiers Are Rewarded— All Re- 
garded as Heroes. 

S against Russia's mighty but distant army Japan had only 
273,268 men to throw into the field, made up as follows : In- 
fantry, 147,160; cavalry, 9,700; artillery, 24,130; engineers, 
7,840; transport, 7,960; reserves, 76,478. 

This army was made up of men ranging from 17 to 40 years old, 
the age limitations governing conscription in Japan. The army of 
opposing Russians ranged from 22 to 44 years old, the figures repre- 
senting the conscription limitations of Russia. The respective pop- 
ulation of the contending countries presents a strange contrast. 
Russia, with its enormous territory, boasting only 64,616,280, while 
the population of little Japan footed up 44,260,606. 

The generals who led the Japanese armies against Russia were 
men who had proved their skill and efficiency. They had seen actual 
service and fought over the very ground where they met the Rus- 
sians. 

JAPANESE LEADERS REVIEWED. 

The first on the list in order of service was Field Marshal Yama- 
gata, not only first in rank, but easily first in the esteem of the Japa- 
nese public and in the judgment of the government. He was a veter- 
an of many wars, having begun service in the struggle that restored 

the emperor to power in 1868. In the following year he visited Rus- 

229 



230 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

sia and France, studying things military. In 1872 he became as- 
sistant secretary of war — a position which in Japan is always held 
by a general officer of the army. In the following year he was made 
lieutenant general and two years later secretary of war. 

The next year saw Japan in the throes of a fierce civil war. The 
rebellion was led by her greatest soldier, Field Marshal Saigo, who 
had with him some 50,000 of her best trained samurai. The gov- 
ernment was compelled to put forth its greatest strength. An imperial 
prince was appointed to the nominal command, but as chief of staff 
Yamagata was the real gen^eral in chief and led the forces which 
crushed the rebellion. Saigo having been slain, Yamagata became 
the first military man in the empire and was promoted to the full 
rank of general. 

YAMAGATA HAD RAPID RISE. 

Being a man of great mental ability, boundless energy and strong 
personality, he soon became almost as prominent in the political world 
as in the military, and shared with Marquis Ito the position of greatest 
influence with the Emperor. He was several times prime minister 
and when not in that position always held some portfolio in the 
cabinet. He never ceased his active share in the development of the 
army. Through various official positions, such as inspector general, 
chief of the general staff and secretary of war, he kept himself in 
close touch with all parts of the army organization. 

When war started with China in 1894 Yamagata was immediately 
given command of the first army that invaded Manchuria. Those 
who were with the army at the time describe the immense enthusiasm 
with which the coming of the great general was greeted by his sol- 
diers. The rigors of a Manchurian winter speedily reduced Yama- 
gata to such a condition that the Emperor, fearful of losing alto- 
gether the service of his ablest officer, called him back to Tokyo to 
act as his chief military adviser. 

NEGOTIATED TROUBLESOME TREATY. 

After the war Yamagata was made a marquis and the new military 



JAPAN'S LAND FORCES. 231 

rank of field marshal was established, to which he was promoted. 
The active interference of Russia, backed by France and Germany, 
which deprived Japan of the fruits of her victory, led the govern- 
ment to try to come to some understanding that would preserve the 
independence of Korea. Yamagata was appointed special ambassa- 
dor for this purpose and proceeded to St. Petersburg, where he 
effected the treaty which was the basis of Japan's ante-war demands 
upon Russia. Not trusting altogether to this, Japan proceeded to 
double her army and greatly increase her navy. Several officers were 
promoted to the rank of field marshal in the army and an equal rank 
in the navy and organized into a supreme council of war. 

Of this Yamagata was made chief. Considering the season of 
the year and the fact that he was over 65 years old and rather frail 
physically, it was improbable that he would take the field in person, 
but would occupy much the same place in war that Von Moltke did 
in the Franco-Prussian conflict. 

FIELD MARSHAL OYAMA. 

Dividing this honor and responsibility with him was Feld Marshal 
Oyama, associated with him in the council of war. Oyama has 
steadily risen in the military organization of Japan with Yamagata, 
and if the latter has been the Emperor's right-hand man Oyama has 
been his left. Like Yamagata, he began his career in the war of the 
restoration. In 1872 he was promoted major general and sent to 
Europe, where he spent three years studying military science. Re- 
turning in 1875, he was made vice minister of war. He added much 
to his reputation by his skilful conduct of operations in the rebellion 
of the great Saigo. 

In 1879 he was promoted lieutenant general. Two years later he 
was made minister of war. In 1883 he became chief of the general 
staff. From this time until the outbreak of the war with China he 
occupied various positions in the cabinet, usually minister of war. 
In 1890 he was made full general — a rank then held only by himself 
and Yamagata. When war started he was looked upon as certainly 



2^2 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

as Yamagata to command one of the armies. Accordingly he was 
given the command of the second army of invasion. Being five years 
younger than Yamagata and more robust, he proved fully equal 
physically to the task, and conducted the extensive campaign that 
resulted in the capture of the two great Chinese strongholds — Port 
Arthur and Wei-hai-Wei. Both positions were considered impreg- 
nable. 

SWEPT CHINESE AWAY. 

The mathematical precision with which Oyama conducted the 
operations and the gallantry with which he took redoubt after re- 
doubt, until finally he swept into the great fortress itself excited the 
admiration of experts, naval and military. Crossing the Gulf of 
Pe-Chee-Lee with an army of 30,000 men, he swept the Chinese 
forces out of Wei-hai-Wei with the greatest apparent ease, and with 
the aid of the navy cooped up the Chinese fleet within the harbor, 
where it was quickly destroyed or captured. Oyama, therefore, re- 
turned from the war full of honors, was made a marcus and promoted 
with Yamagata to the special rank of field marshal. Oyama is noted 
for his genialty, his calmness under trying circumstances and his 
studious character. 

GENERAL NODZU. 

After Yamagata and Oyama the most conspicuous military man in 
Japan is General Nodzu, who succeeded Yamagata in the command 
of the first army of 1894-95. Like the others, he began his career 
in the war of the restoration, in which he served as captain. Five 
years later, at the age of 30, he had reached the rank of colonel. In 
1876 he visited the United States, attending the centennial exposition 
and making a study of our military system. In connection with the 
latter he took part in an Indian campaign. He returned to Japan 
just in time to take part in the civil war inaugurated by Saigo. Pro- 
moted major general and given command of the Second brigade, he 
rendered particularly brilliant service. In 1886, in company with 
General Oyama, he made an extensive tour of military inspection in 
Europe and America. 



JAPAN'S LAND FORCES. 233 

Upon his return he was promoted heutenant general and placed 
in command of the Fifth division. When war started with China 
this was the first division to take the field. A mixed brigade was 
sent over and beat the Chinese at Ulsan, in southern Korea. Shortly 
after this Nodzu, with the remainder of the division, arrived and, 
finding that the enemy had concentrated a force of some 20,000 men 
at the famous stronghold of Phyng-Yang, in northern Korea, he 
moved rapidly against it and crushed it in battle. Another division 
was now sent over to join him and the two divisions, together about 
45,000 strong, became the first army of invasion, of which Yama- 
gata took command. 

With this army Yamagata crossed the Yalu river and invaded 
Manchuria, but as related, his health failing, he was soon forced 
to return to Japan, whereupon Nodzu was given the command and 
promoted to the full rank of general. In a very tedious and difficult 
winter campaign he pushed his vs^ay across the southern part of Man- 
churia, driving the Chinese before him and beating them whenever 
he could come in touch with them until he reached New-Chwang, 
where a great battle terminated the cam.paign. 

HOW JAP SOLDIERS ARE REWARDED. 

For his conduct in this war General Nodzu was decorated, made a 
count, pensioned and honored in various ways. With the enlarge- 
ment and reorganization of the army the country was divided into 
three grand military divisions, eastern, middle and western, and Gen- 
eral Nodzu has had command of the eastern. Although 60 years 
old, he is still in active command. 

Next in order come the lieutenant generals most conspicuous in the 
Korean and Manchurian campaign. The first of these undoubtedly 
is General Katsura, who became prime minister of the empire. He 
is a man of great ability and energy and a thoroughly trained soldier. 
He was 20 years old at the time of the restoration and served as a 
staff officer. He did so well that he was rewarded with a sword of 
honor and a pension. It was only natural that so promising a young 



234 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

soldier should be one of those chosen to go abroad to study, and in 
1870 he was sent to Germany, where he studied for three years. 
Returning in 1873, he took part, with the rank of major, in the ex- 
pedition sent to chastise Formosa. 

BRAVERY IS RECOGNIZED. 

On his return he was designated mihtary attache to the legation 
in Germany, where he remained for several years. Upon his return 
he was made lieutenant colonel and appointed director of the army 
intelligence bureau. Being a man of great capacity for work, he was 
also made a member of the committee for the investigation of the 
coast defense works and also given the political post of chief secre- 
tary of the cabinet. That he should have held all these offices at once 
is a high tribute to his a1)ility. In 1882 he was promoted colonel. In 
1884 he traveled in Europe on a tour of military inspection, returning 
the year following. He was now made major general and entered the 
war department as director of the general affairs bureau. 

In 1886 he became vice minister of war. In 1891 he received the 
rank of lieutenant general and took command of the Third division. 
In the war with China he was ordered to Korea, where his division, 
together with the Fifth division, constituted the first army and did 
brilliant service in Manchuria. Indeed Katsura was General Nodzu's 
right arm in that campaign. 

Upon his return he was decorated, made a viscount and given a 
life pension. Later on he was promoted to the rank of full general. 
He was then appointed governor general of Formosa, a position of 
mixed civil and military duties that made it similar to the same office 
in the Philippines. Some time later he resigned this post to enter 
the cabinet as secretary of war. Later, at a time of particular politi- 
cal stress, he was invited by the emperor to form a cabinet, and he 
succeeded. 

FITTED FOR COMMAND. 

As prime minister he has displayed such skill and tact that he is 
still in power, having remained in office an unusually long time. Ow- 



JAPAN'S LAND FORCES. 235 

ing to his great abilities, military skill and minute knowledge of 
Manchuria, gained in actual warfare, and his physical vigor, being 
only 56 years old — ten years younger than Y'amagata and five years 
younger than Oyama and Nodzu — General Katsura was the man 
best fitted to map out the campaign against Russia. 

Next in military achievement are Sakuma, who commands the 
middle, or Kurogi, who commands the western grand military di- 
vision, or Oku, who commands the Tokyo army of defense. These 
are the next in succession, sharing with Nodzu and Katsura the rank 
of full general. They all commanded divisions in the first or second 
army during the war with China. 

Much was expected by Japan also from Major General Fukushima, 
who commanded the Japanese forces at the battle of Tien-Tsin during 
the "boxer" troubles and whose skill excited the admiration of the 
foreign experts. Fukushima has spent much time in Russia and 
Manchuria and is an authority on the subject. Besides Kodama and 
Fukushima there is a group of officers who were major generals 
during the war with China and who either in command of brigades 
or in some staff position, proved their skill on many a hard-fought 
field. Most of these now command divisions. Among these are 
Lieutenant General Nogi, v/hose Avork was particularly brilliant in 
the taking of Port Arthur and in the later advance on New-Chwang. 
After the war he was made a baron, promoted to his present rank 
and for a time was governor general of Formosa. 

Besides Nogi there is Yamaguchi, who was the lieutenant general 
in command of the division which marclied on Pekin during the 
"boxer" trouble. There is also Lieutenant General Terauchi, who 
was promoted to be secretary of war ; also Lieutenant Generals Nishi, 
Oseko, Okubo, Inouve, Llachimi and the two Oshimas. These names, 
while they sound strange to American ears, are familiar to every 
schoolbo)^ in Japan, who cherishes in his heart the memory of their 
brave deeds, together with some words, acts or incidents in their 
lives v/hich illustrate their character, their bravery, love of country 
and devotion to their sovereign. 




THE FAR EAST—THE PEACE CURTAIN IS STUCK! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" 

Thiscartoon is In remembrance of the terrible Iroqiiois Theater fire of December 30, caused 1 y 
the catching of the asbestos curtain. War is seen issuing forth from the opening 



CHAPTER XVII. 

RUSSIANS MIGHTY RAILROAD 

stretches Quarter Distance Around the Globe— Figures on Equipment— The Secret 
Chinese Road— Government Was Victimized— Work Started by Czar — Strong 
American Sentiment — Railroad Loses Vast Sum. 

PASSING reference has already been made to the great Trans- 
Siberian railroad and the world well understood what an 
important factor it was in the mighty drama of the v/ar. 
Experts who had traveled on the line declared that it would not stand 
the strain of a continued struggle. Undoubtedly in certain aspects 
the railway appears very faulty, but the enormous mileage probably 
accounts for some of the laxity in construction. 

The track, a single one, is such that only 17.7 miles an hour can be 
covered by the light express trains in Siberia and in Manchuria ii.i 
miles an hour is the highest rate of speed commensurate with safety. 
The line has numerous sidings, but these are not sufficient to prevent 
congestion when great pressure is put on the system. The most 
interesting and vital portion of the great 4,000 mile railway is the 
passage of Lake Baikal, which has already been fully described. 
Parts of the area have never been plumbed. It is surrounded by some 
of the hardest mountains which a railway engineer could encounter. 
The official plan included a railway around the southern end of Bai- 
kal, but this was not finished when needed most. Instead connection 
was cnade by means of a steam ferry which was built in England, 
taken to the shore of the lake in parts, and put together on the scene 
of operation. 



238 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

The steam ferry has three lines of rail upon the main deck to carry 
one passenger and two freight trains across the lake. With this load 
the ferry was designed to crush its way through three feet of ice at 
a speed of thirteen knots an hour. A screw at the bow with a separ- 
ate engine sucks away the water from underneath the Ice, which 
thus breaks by its own weight. This ferry and ice crusher proved 
useless during the coldest part of winter, when the ice was thickest. 
The propellers at the stern force the vessel through the broken ice 
sheets. The actual track covered by the ferry measures thirty-nine 
miles. There is a harbor and lighthouse at the western end of the 
lake, but there is no dock where the ferry could be repaired in case 
of need. 

After passing the lake the railroad winds through the Yablonoi 
hills, reaching an altitude of 3,311 feet, with one tunnel 270 yards 
in length through the hills. After passing the Manchurian frontier 
the line crosses the Khingan range by a zig-zag railway pending the 
completion of a tunnel 1,900 yards in length now in course of con- 
struction. After descending from the hills to a high plateau the line 
runs through the northern part of Manchuria to Harbin. 

FIGURES ON -EQUIPMENT. 

The line bifurcates at this point, the southern branch running 479 
miles by way of Mukden to Port Arthur, with a branch to Niuch- 
wang. Connection with Pekin will be made in a short time by a 
branch line now in course of construction. The other branch, with its 
terminus at Vladivostok, after leaving Harbin, continues 480 miles, 
in a course a little north of east, to the terminus at the port. 

The following table contains facts of interest about the great Rus- 
sian railway : 

Stations completed 390 

Railway employes 14-738 

Locomotives 75 ^ 

Passenger coaches 54^ 

Freight cars 7743 



RUSSIA'S MIGHTY RAILROAD. 239 

Mail cars ,. . . , 33 

Siberian mileage 3,559 

Manchurian mileage 1,144 

Traffic in 1899 (tons) 639,000 

Moscow to Irkutsk (days) ,, 8 

Irkutsk to Manchuria (hours) 74 

Across Manchuria to Port Arthur (hours) 77 

Vladivostok to London (7,092 miles), (days) 17.5 

STRETCHES QUARTER DISTANCE AROUND THE WORLD. 

The American transcontinental lines were built to further com- 
merce. The Canadian Pacific was designed for commercial purposes 
first and secondarily for military reasons. The Russian railroads 
across Asia are first military and imperial, and a long way after that 
to develop the land. The strategic motive in building 6,000 miles of 
an unusual (five feet) gauge, single track line is illustrated by the 
history of a railroad whose very existence Russia intended to conceal. 

THE SECRET CHINESE ROAD. 

Before the completion of the line that runs across Manchuria from 
the main and original Siberian road through Harbin to Port Arthur 
and Vladivostok, the secret policy of St. Petersburg demanded a 
straight line to Pekin. It is known that a concession for such a 
railroad was obtained from China in 1898. It was intended to run 
across the desert of Gobi to Kalgan, a point in the great wall of China, 
close to Pekin. 

This road never was openly built, and all but the diplomats forgot 
the scheme. 

It is possible that Wirt Gerrare, the writer, was not an agent of 
British diplomacy, but he rendered his home government a service 
of value in his Asiatic investigation. He determined to see what was 
to be seen in Manchuria, and finding that Englishmen were turned 
back, where other travelers were allowed to pass freely, he disguised 
himself and went everywhere. 



240 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

The Boxer uprising showed the Russians an easier route to Pekin 
than the caravan track across the desert from Kalgan to Kiakata. 
Scandinavian missionaries in MongoHa, fleeing to the Russian Hnes, 
showed the Russians a way that hardly needed surveying, from 
Khailar along the west slopes of the lofty Khingan range of moun- 
tains. 

"This branch," Mr. Gerrare wrote in December, 1902, "is being 
built with all possible speed as a purely strategic railway having Kal- 
gan as its objective." 

LABOR SECRETLY PURSUED. 

The Russians took amazing precautions against discovery. Tliey 
drove the Chinese out of the whole country to be traversed. Foreign- 
ers allowed to pass along the declared route of the Eastern Chinese 
railway were watched to see that they did not stumble upon this new 
line. Some Englishmen, permitted to hunt in the Altai mountains, 
were "steered" away from it. 

"It was purely by accident," Mr, Gerrare says, "that I saw this 
line and the construction trains bound south passing over it. It was 
useless for me to attempt to follow the line to the railway head, but 
I was able to get some information." 

Near Khailar, on the trunk line of the great Siberian road, 650 
miles north of Pekin, the strategic line turns off, skirts a lake, crosses 
the River Khalka and winds its way south along the high plateau of 
the Khingan mountains to Khalgan, sixty miles west northwest of 
Pekin. 

The track, Mr. Gerrare says, follows the surface contour and there 
has been little attempt at finding a level, the sleepers being laid on 
top of the turf, wherever this is sufficiently even, without being im- 
bedded in the soil. The embankments and cuttings were unimportant 
and the line was hardly more than the kind railway contractors put 
down for their construction trains. 

The Trans-Siberian railroad has often been described as a great 
railroad, which it is not, instead of a great enterprise, which it is. 




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RUSSIA'S MIGHTY RAILROAD. 257 

Six thousand miles, girdling a quarter of the world, even of five 
foot gauge single track, and poorly laid, is a vast deal to do at all. 
The rails are but fifty-four pounds to the yard. 

GOVERNMENT WAS VICTIMIZED. 

The government was simply plundered in the construction. There 
are tales like those in the history of the American achievement. It 
is not very long ago that railroads in the United States thought sixty 
pound rails good enough till they could get better. 

As planned originally the Trans-Siberian railroad was to run to 
Irkutsk, the Siberian capital, and Lake Baikal, just east of it. Then 
the track was to skirt the southern end of Lake Baikal, thence to 
Stretensk (Stretyinsk) at the head of navigation on the Amur river,_ 
and follow that stream to the point where it turns suddenly northeast, 
at Khabarovsk; from this point the railroad runs to Vladivostok. 

WORK STARTED BY CZAR. 

The first barrowful of earth was dug and trundled at Vladivostok 
by the then Czarevitch, now the Czar, on May 19, 1891. The divi- 
sion to Khabarovsk was completed first. The lines from Moscow to 
Irkutsk and from the eastern shore of Lake Baikal to Stretensk has 
made the rail-and-water route complete to the Pacific. The railroad 
from Stretensk to Kharbarovsk never has been built. 

The traveler sees many things that make him smile at the Russian 
as a "railroader." 

One is that on great stretches of the line no water tanks have 
been provided. The locomotive takes on an extra tender — a flat car 
with huge tubs filled with water. At some tanks the water has to be 
pumped from a source half a mile distant. The locomotives are 
wood burners, built by the Baldwin Locomotive works in Phila- 
delphia. 

STRONG AMERICAN SENTIMENT. 

This Trans-Baikal country looks toward America. Desperately 
inadequate inns are named "New York Hotels," and things to eat 
are sold at the refreshment shops. 



258 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Further east, in Manchuria, the rails are from Maryland rolling 
mills, and down on the Harbin-Port Arthur stretch one welcomes the 
familiar screech of a Philadelphia built locomotive, of an out-of-date 
model so far as America is concerned but giving the slow moving 
train once more the "feel" of a "Cannon-ball Limited." 

RAILROAD LOSES VAST SUM. 

The railroad doesn't pay and will not for many years. Outside of 
military traffic, only 66,000 passengers were carried in 1898 and 56,- 
000 in 1899. The Boxer troubles increased the business in 1900. Of 
freight there was 584,000 tons in 1898 and 639,000 tons in 1899. 

The "fixed charges" for interest amount to $17,000,000 a year. 
The actual gross receipts for 1899 were only $8,500,000 and the oper- 
ating expenses were $10,000,000. 

Almost any railroad in the United States can show more traffic 
and more revenue, but the defect in proportion to the business is sur- 
passing. 

The road does not run through a desert. It is fine farming land for 
the most part, and immigrants are pouring in to take up the land. 
One of these days the railroad will be a great system and the coun-_ 
try as well settled as is Kansas. 

Of the whole population of Siberia, the convict and political exile 
element is settled mostly in eastern Siberia. The total number exiled 
in seventy-five years up to 1898 was 908,266. 




CHAPTER XVIIL 
MIGHTY MEN OF JAPAN. 

The Work of the Magician of the Far East— Sacrifices of Japan's Lords— No Simi- 
lar Event in History— The Passing of Old Traditions— Destiny Foretold— 
Called the Bismarck of Japan — Spencer Would Keep Foreigners at Arm's 
Length. 

O no man in the empire is Japan under such a great debt of 
gratitude as to the Emperor, Mutsuhito, who is frequenty re- 
ferred to as "the mikado-magician of the far East." He has 
proved himself the man for the hour, equal in all respects to the gi- 
gantic task of creating a great nation from a somewhat heterogeneous 
mass of people scarce emerged from the darkness of barbarism. Just 
as long as Japan has a place in the world his name must live on the 
roll of the world's great men. 

It was not given to many of the great world figures who made his- 
tory and founded empires to sow the seed and watch the harvest 
gathered in. England toiled painfully through the centuries, through 
war and revolution, now suffering long oppression, now beating down 
its kings, out of the long night of feudalism into the freedom which 
she has spread throughout the earth. But to one man in the world 
it has been given to find a nation bound and to set it free, to ascend 
a feudal throne and to base it firm upon the people's will. 

THE WORK OF THE MAGICIAN OF THE FAR EAST. 

Mutsuhito has brought Japan to Europe. It is almost as if he had, 
by a stroke of the magic wand, transformed the England of the con- 

259 



26o -^ THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

queror into the England of today. Half a thousand years seem to 
have slipped by forgotten in the generation which IMutsuhito has 
reigned. 

Time and history seem both to be playing tricks when we think 
of the rise of Japan. The things which should be centuries old are 
only thirty years, and almost on the same page we find prime min- 
isters and feudal lords. There are men, and men not very old, who 
remember when for a Caucasian to set foot in Japan was a perilous 
thing, when Japan was to all the world as a closed book, which none 
had dared to open. Then, across the vast distance, came the rumblings 
of a storm, the dim message of a mighty change, and Europe knew 
that Mutsuhito, a young man in an old country, the youngest, per- 
haps, of all the rulers in the world, had broken down the power of 
centuries, swept aside all but a thousand years of custom, and laid 
the foundations for a new Japan. 

THE WORK OF A NIGHT. 

It was the work, as it were, of a night. In a short war the shogun, 
the dynasty which had ruled Japan for 700 years, was overthrown and 
the dynasty which through all the centuries had ruled Japan in name 
now ruled in fact. That was in 1868, when Mutsuhito was 16, and 
it seems an incredible thing outside a novel that a youth in his teens 
should lead a kingdom out of Egypt into the promised land. Yet all 
that is modern and powerful in Japan has come into being since the 
Emperor was 16, and in his short life is bound up all the strange 
change which has made Japan the hope of the East today. 

SACRIFICES OF JAPAN's LORDS. 

Even now there are times when Japan looks rather like a picture 
in a fairy book than a country on the map. But there were won- 
derful things for the world to see in Japan when we were young. 
Such things as men had rarely looked upon were there to gaze upon 
when Japan drew up its blinds and threw open its doors to all the 
continents. Great nobles gave up their lands and castles to the state. 



MIGHTY MEN OF JAPAN. 261 

The feudal lords, heads of great families which had ruled Japan 1,000 
years; the sword bearers, who had fought her battles and preserved 
her fame in war, laid their very homes and incomes on the altar of 
the new Japan. Two hundred landed lords ga^-e up their estates to 
the emperor who was building up a kingdom which could have no 
room for other lords than he. No such laying down of rank and 
poAver had been seen since the nobles sacrificed their privileges in the 
national assembly of France eighty years before. 

NO SIMILAR EVENT IN HISTORY. 

It was an event, this surrender of their glories by a proud nobility, 
which somebody has said "throws into the shade the achievements 
of Peter the Great, the reforms of Joseph II and even the French 
revolution itself." It was, at least, a sight which neither gods nor 
men had seen more than once or twice since the gentlewomen of 
Florence flung their rings and bracelets on Savonarola's bonfire of 
vanities. 

But Savonarola himself could hardly have changed the whole life 
of a nation; we know how his kingdom fell. And there were crises 
and storms in Japan, with revolts against the new regime and risings 
of the old, and once when the streets of Japan ran with Japan's best 
blood the tragic close of 30,000 lives marked forever this parting of 
the ways between east and west. 

THE PASSING OF OLD TRADITIONS. 

Nor was it easy for the emperor to deprive of their lost privilege 
all the lords who had magnanimously laid down the rest. Yet so small 
a thing as the wearing of a sword came necessarily to be forbidden 
and slowly the old tradition and picturesqueness of life in Japan passed 
away before the nation's eyes. Japan was loth to let it pass. We 
like to remember that story of the wife of a Japanese ambassador who 
was attended by a leading physician in Vienna. She had a bed such 
as any great lady in Vienna might sleep upon, but in it the physician 
found a board upon which she really lay, and hidden in the soft 



262 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

pillows lay the old-fashioned head rest common in the old Japan. 
How hard it is to let the habits of a lifetime go ! 

HARD TO LAY ASIDE LIFELONG CUSTOMS. 

"Among all the innovations of the era," a great authority on Japan 
has told us, "the only one that a Japanese could not lay aside at will 
was the new fashion of dressing his hair. He abandoned the queue 
irrevocably, but for the rest he lived a dual life. During hours of 
duty he wore a fine uniform, shaped and decorated in foreign style. 
But so soon as he stepped out of office and off parade he reverted to 
his own comfortable and picturesque costume. 

"Handsome houses were built and furnished according to western 
models. But each had an annex where alcoves, verandas, matted 
floors and paper sliding doors continued to do traditional duty. Beef- 
steaks, beer, 'grape wines,' knives and forks came into use on oc- 
casion. But rice bowls and chopsticks held their place as of old." 

Japan had grown old in the old paths and now, thirty-five years 
after, there are those who tread them still. 

MARQUIS ITO, THE BISMARCK OF JAPAN. 

Now comes Japan's greatest commoner, outshining all with whom 
this work has dealt — Marquis Ito. In the East they call him the 
"Bismarck of Japan." 

In framing the crucial correspondence that precipitated the war 
Marquis Ito played an important part, having been the Emperor's 
personal advisor from day to day. 

Perhaps the most interesting estimate of this great Oriental states- 
man is found in the following ruminations written by Stephane Lau- 
zanne upon reading of the beginning of hostilities : 

A REMARKABLE CHARACTER. 

"As I read that dispatch the face of the foreign statesman, the most 
remarkable that the last century has produced in the Orient, came 
vividly before my memory. Again I beheld its deep wrinkles in brow 
and cheek ; its eternally stereotyped smile, disclosing the pointed white 



MIGHTY MEN OF JAPAN. 263 

teeth between the blanched Hps; the extraordinary keenness of the 
eyes that looked out through gold-bowed spectacles ; and especially the 
prodigious and disturbing quickness of the glances that sought and 
found and recorded whatever was of interest to the mind that con- 
trolled them. 

"It was three 3^ears ago, in a London salon, that I met him; and 
there we had a long talk. Today I have discovered the brief notes 
I ha"d then jotted down in my journal. 

DESTINY FORETOLD, 

"As he told me the story of his political career I felt as if I were 
turning the pages of some Oriental story of Haroun al Raschid. He 
was 20 years old when he first took office under his country's govern- 
ment. The old Mikado, Komei Tenno, made him his friend and one 
morning summoned him to the palace. 'You have,' said he, 'the 
making of a statesman, and perhaps you are destined to become the 
prime minister of Japan, but to this end you must give yourself a 
broad education. Especially you must understand Europe.' 

OFF TO STUDY ENGLAND. 

"At the expense of the Imperial treasury Ito was dispatched, in 
company with another distinguished Japanese gentleman, Count 
Inouye, on a journey to England. There he remained 15 m^onths 
studying English and the institutions of Great Britain; he observed 
men and affairs and ships — ships most of all. At the end of the 15 
months he returned to the Orient and threw himself headlong into 
the war in which Japan was then involved. On his way home he 
left the passenger steamer and enlisted as a simple sailor on board a 
man-of-war; took part in the naval battle that was fought beneath 
the walls of Simonsaki, and then, still in sailor's dress, negotiated 
with the foreign powers in the name of his Emperor. He was 22 years 
old. 

"When the treaty of peace was signed he was made Governor of 
. H3^ogo, and in 1868, at the age of 28, he was made Minister of 



264 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Finance. Then followed cabinet after cabinet and ministerial com- 
bination after ministerial combination, without reference to Ito. Later, 
however, he was seven times made minister and four times President 
of the Council. 

AMERICA NEXT. 

"One day the young Emperor, Mutsuhito, had Ito called to him, 
and addressed him in almost the same words which his father, 
Komei Tenno, had used : 'You are a great minister, but you must 
still inform yourself more broadly. My father sent you to study 
Europe; I am going to send you to study America.' 

"So, always at the expense of the imperial treasury, Ito set out to 
learn about the United States. As a result of this investigation he 
brought back the outlines of a constitution for Japan. Of this let him 
speak for himself: 

" *It was by no means an easy thing to make a constitution for a 
country which had never so much as heard of parliamentary govern- 
ment. I had no model to guide me in all our history, and it was 
necessary to build soundly for the future. I tried to forget all the 
constitutions of all the Western nations and to frame one which 
would be as adaptable to Oriental peoples. I asked myself how Bud- 
dha would have acted under the circumstances and what Confucius 
would have done if he had been required to establish a parliamentary 
regime, and I flatter myself that I succeeded pretty well in getting 
into their skins ; for my constitution has worked beautifully for 20 
years, and no efforts have been made to modify it in the slightest 
particular.' 

SOURCE OF HIS SUCCESS. 

"This man, who is, perhaps, a rather clumsy joker, had nevertheless 
profound political convictions, and when he spoke of the duties of 
a party leader his voice assumed the inflections of a genuine eloquence: 
*A political party,' said he, 'must be really a guide for the masses, 
and to that end it must begin by maintaining a strict discipline and 
a perfect order within its own ranks. Its chief rule must be the 



MIGHTY MEN OF JAPAN. 265 

maintenance of an absolute devotion to the higher interests in its 
country, and it must particularly avoid giving office to mediocre indi- 
viduals who have no other claim to preferment than their political 
affiliations.' Japan, you see, not only exports beautiful vases, but 
equally beautiful moral precepts. 

CALLED BISMARCK. 

"Full of honors and of years. Marquis Ito went into retirement 
from public life. His countrymen gave him the sobriquet of 'Bis- 
marck,' and the Emperor, who four times called him to preside over 
the councils of the ministry, asked him to preside over the councils of 
the elder statesmen — councils where all the old servants of the coun- 
try and all the past glories of the empire were summoned together, 
and at which it was decided what part the nation was to play in her 
hour of anxiety and trouble." 

SPENCER WOULD KEEP FOREIGNERS AT ARM's LENGTH. 

A philosopher is not necessarily a hero. At least, there are limits 
to a philosopher's heroism. Herbert Spencer did not fear to aim 
slings and arrows which struck Christianity in places both high and 
tender; but when his .convictions ran counter to English imperial 
policy, and to the self-complacency of the British people, he closed 
his utterance with these words : 

"I give this advice in confidence. I wish that it should not transpire 
publicly, at any rate during my life, for I do not wish to rouse the 
animosity of my fellow-countrymen." 

DEATH BREAKS SILENCE. 

The utterance which saw the light only after Mr. Spencer's death 
broke the seal of silence, deals with the national policy of Japan. 
Briefly, he advised Japan to have as little as possible to do with 
Europeans and Americans, to continue her ancient policy of exclusive- 
ness, to undo all that she has done since she embraced European 
ideas more than thirty years ago. The advice was communicated to 
Baron Kentaro Kaneko, who regretfully made it public. 



266 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Baron Kaneko was among the foremost of the Japanese intellects 
which welcomed the dawning intelligence that came with European 
contact. He graduated at Harvard, and later served continuously 
in responsible governmental positions, being recognized to this day as 
the most confidential lieutenant of Marquis Ito. In 1890, the question 
arose whether Japan should continue in what is known in interna- 
tional law as an extra-territorial status, or should enter freely into 
the family of nations on the same basis as others, giving to foreigners 
the same rights as to natives. Baron Kaneko strongly favored the 
latter policy as being in line with the steps already taken by Japan 
toward modern standards. The matter was to be decided by the In- 
stitute of International Lav/ at Geneva in 1892, and Baron Kaneko's 
interest in the new policy led him to secure an appointment to advocate 
it at Geneva. 

SOUGHT GREAT ENGLISH PHILOSOPHER, 

Like all the leaders of Japan's dawning intelligence, who saw in 
science the basis of all progress, Baron Kaneko was thoroughly 
familiar with the writings of Darwin, Mill and Spencer. He be- 
lieved that Spencer would as a matter of course favor the liberal 
status of Japan, and one of his earnest hopes in connection with 
the trip to Geneva was that he might see Spencer, and enlist his aid. 

Baron Kaneko left Japan and came by way of America to renew 
some of his Harvard associations. While in Cambridge he asked 
his friend, the late Professor John Fiske, to give him a letter of 
introduction. The story of how he finally came to have confidential 
relations with Mr. Spencer has been told by Baron Kaneko himself. 

Mr. Fiske demurred to the request for a letter of introduction. 
He spoke of the philosopher's retiring habits, and of the strong proba- 
bility that such a letter would merely expose its bearer to rebuff, as 
had been the case in several previous instances. But Baron Kaneko, 
willing to take the risk, urged the writing of the letter. This, how- 
ever, he did not, on reaching England, carry direct to Spencer's resi- 
dence. He enclosed it in a covering epistle which set forth the writer's 
hopes and his reasons for entertaining them. 



MIGHTY MEN OF JAPAN. 267 

The reply was immediate. Spencer invited Baron Kaneko to visit 
him at his house, and the first interview lasted two hours. The 
visitor found that his host 'had collected a quantity of matter relating 
to Japanese history, politics, manners, customs and religious beliefs, 
and very soon Baron Kaneko was undergoing an exhaustive cross- 
examination about the meaning of this, the relations of that, or the 
significance of the other. 

Herbert Spencer expressed the keenest satisfaction. It transpired 
that he had been vainly seeking intelligible solutions of many Japa- 
nese problems, to which Baron Kaneko now furnished the key. To 
prolong the conversation he drove Baron Kaneko to the latter's hotel 
en route for an appointment of his own elsewhere, and at parting he 
announced his intention of proposing his Japanese acquaintance for 
honorary membership of the Athenaeum club, "where," said Spencer, 
'T generally lunch every day, and we can have many opportunities of 
meeting and talking." 

CLOSE FRIENDSHIP FOLLOWED. 

The program was carried out. Very soon Baron Kaneko received 
a notice of membership, accompanied with an invitation to lunch with 
the philosopher next day. That was the beginning of very intimate 
relations, maintained subsequently by correspondence. 

After a few visits Baron Kaneko brought up his hope that Japan 
would take the liberal step and open her arms freely to foreigners. 
He broached this subject to Mr. Spencer, confidently looking to find 
encouragement, approval and assistance. Instead, he found dissent 
and dissuasion. 

SPENCER RECOMMENDED COMPLETE ISOLATION. 

For any Oriental nation desiring to preserve its independence 
and its integrity, the philosopher recommended the largest possible 
measure of isolation from the Occident, and, where isolation was 
not completely attainable, then the preservation of any system, such 
as extra-territoriality, which might contribute to restrict intercourse. 



268 



THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 



In vain Baron Kaneko expounded the spirit of the poHcy adopted by 
Japan at the time of the Restoration (1867); explained the consis- 
tency and perseverance of her efforts to quahfy for admission to the 
rank and file of the Occidental comity; dwelt upon the earnestness of 
her aspirations, and insisted that the road to safety lay really in the 
direction of liberal progress, free intercourse and protection by imi- 
tation. Herbert Spencer's views remained unshaken. He had formed 
them, he said, after long study of ethnical and historical problems, 
and he could not divest himself of his convictions. 

Finally, in deference to Baron Kaneko's request, he reduced his 
opinions to writing. 




The Great Geography Teacher. 




CHAPTER XIX. 

HOW INDIA VIEWS JAPAN. 

Ancient Acquaintance Renewed — Hope of Deliverance Raised — Yearns for Federa- 
tion — Spark of Liberty Still Burns— Suggestion for an Asiatic Triple Alli- 
ance — Is It Only a Dream? 

'HE worldwide interest that centered upon the Japanese- Rus- 
sian war and the significance of its outcome may be judged 
somewhat by the feverish concern with which its ever changing 
developments were viewed in India, as well as China. What dreams of 
emulation were aroused in the minds of its dusky people, what hopes 
of shaking off the hated British rule were inspired by the proud 
achievements of the puissant Japs may never be known. Suffice it to 
say England's apprehension was aroused. Her tenure was precarious 
enough; if only Brahmin and Mohammedan should unite the doom of 
the English would be sealed. Fortunately for the peace of the world 
India had become the Forgotten Country, the land of the Dead Calm. 

ANCIENT ACQUAINTANCE RENEWED. 

Up to 1894 the Hindus took little interest in the Japanese. The 
ancient bonds uniting them through the spread of Buddhism, and of 
India culture in general in Japan, weakened exceedingly in the course 
of centuries in consequence of the diametrically different fates of the 
two countries, and of the cessation of almost all intercourse. India 
and Japan began to get acquainted anew solely owing to their com- 
mon acquaintance with the English culture and under the influence of 

the English press. 

269 



270 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

The news of the wreck of the mihlary power of ilHmitable China 
by a nation of mediocre size, which was yet in moral dependence to it, 
and indebted to it for the principles of its government and civiliza- 
tion, could not help astonish the Hindus and stimulate their curiosity. 
From that time on the English papers in India, some of which are 
advocates of the needs of the subjected people (edited and published 
by Hindus, subject of course to the censorship of native publications), 
began to maintain permanent correspondents in Japan, and the entire 
class of people educated in the English educational system began to 
follow events in Japan. 

HOPE OF DELIVERANCE RAISED. 

Then came the hundred-tongued rumor that in the operations 
against the Boxers the Japanese army proved superior in courage to 
all European armies, and especially in its humane treatment of the 
conquered — this rumor stirred the people of India to even higher pitch 
than the China- Japan war. Trumpeting this superiority over other 
Europeans, the English intended to lower these in the opinion of the 
Hindus, but the latter made their contrasts instead, with the English, 
whom they always have before their eyes. 

From this time on the whole Hindu mass began to be fascinated by 
Japan, and to place upon her hopes of deliverance. Hindus began 
to travel to Japan (in the last decade Hindus have become great 
travelers), to reside in Japan and study in her schools. At present 
the fashion among well-to-do Hindus is to send their boys to Japan, 
where they formerly sent them to England. On the other hand the 
Japanese began to travel through India, and to spend months and even 
years in its cities. 

YEARN FOR FEDERATION. 

A close bond was woven first of all between the Japs and the Bud- 
dhists of Ceylon and Nepaul, but on account of the diminishing enmity 
between Brahmins and Buddhists, the Buddhistic Japanese were not 
prevented on account of their religion from entering into a rap- 
prochement with the Brahmins also. 



HOW INDIA VIEWS JAPAN. 271 

The English observed and rejoiced at the sympathy of the Hindus 
for the opponent of her rival in Asia, Russia. The Japs, they thought, 
MTould serve them in good capacity for the estrangement of the people 
of India from sympathizing with Russia. But recently the English 
were thunderstruck by some sufficiently eloquent facts. An article on 
Japan, written by an Englishman returning from travels there, evoked 
a whole mailbag of letters to him from editors of other gazettes, 
nabobs, rajahs, etc. They had taken him for a Japanese and expressed 
their delight that at last one of the future liberators of their country 
had arrived. 

SPARK OF LIBERTY STILL BURNS. 

Some even sent presents, and offered subscriptions for the prosecu- 
tion of the secret propaganda. The whole correspondence fell into 
the hands of the Anglo-Indian Government, which could not contain 
itself in its astonishment. Lord Curzon viewed the affair seriously, 
but smothered it in order to prevent its dissemination. In conse- 
quence a plan was put afoot to prohibit Hindus from attending Japa- 
nese schools, and principally the University of Tokyo. 

At the time of this accidental discovery some other notable symp- 
toms were observed. During the winter semester (term) of the Tokyo 
University, seventy Hindus came up for matriculation, some of them 
members of the highest families, and to all a magnificent welcome 
was extended. The arrival of vassal rulers with their numerous at- 
tendants and of other famous Hindus added splendor to the saison 
of the imperial court. The Japanese aristocracy arranged a banquet 
in honor of the notable guests of the "Club of the Peers," where 
floods of eloquence on the liberation of all Asia from the Europeans 
were indulged in. Two speeches aroused the greatest sensation. One 
by the Maharaja Putiala and the other by the Buddhist priest Dhar- 
mapala. Although but a portion of them found their way into the . 
Japanese press, yet that portion opened wide the eyes of all Europeans 
acquainted with the Japanese language. 

The maharaja told the peers that he was not a subject or a vassal, 



272 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

but instead, an ally of England. The Emperor of India was like the 
German Emperor in rank, but that did not make the King of Bavaria 
a vassal to William 11. No more is India. The so-called vassal rulers 
were merely deprived of their right of entering into official relations 
with foreign states. Else the maharaja would have liked to maintain 
an embassy in Tokyo. 

SUGGE.STI0N FOR AN ASIATIC TRIPLE ALLIANCE. 

j\luch less loyal to the English v.-as the Priest Dharmapala. Dhar- 
mapala made an appeal for an Asiatic triple allince between Japan, 
China and India, after a Chino-Japanese army had liberated the people 
of India from their foreign oppressor. Asia for the Asiatics, was 
the keynote of this remarkable banquet. At the close, a Japanese 
peer read the famous poem of Kakasu Okakusi, calling the Asians 
to arms to emancipate all Asia from the exploitation of European 
races. 

IS IT ONLY A DREAM? 

What a stupendous dream ! Asia for the Asiatics with their teem- 
ing millions overshadowing all the rest of the earth. It is the dream 
that haunts those v^dio are ever ready to raise an outcry against the 
"yellow peril." Japan, China and India united against all the world 
in a mighty empire towering in numerical strength above all. Is the 
dream to prove empty? Time alone can tell. 



CHAPTER XX. 
JAPAN^S YELLOW JOURNALISM. 

A Polite Calldown — Some Notable Exceptions — Yellow Journalism Flourishes— The 
Newspapers Got the Gold — The Lottery Soheme Strikes In—Sensational War 
News — The Yellowest One of All — Press in Darkness. 

!EW Americans realize to what an extent the daily newspaper has 
grown in the last decade in "little" Japan, with her 50,000,000 
people. In Tokyo, for instance, there are no less than twelve na- 
tive daily papers, v/hile the foreign press of the capital and Yokohama 
is valued at something like 227,000 yen, a yen being approximately 50 
cents in American money. Tokyo has its press club also, called the Japa- 
nese Journalists' Union, v/nere the knights of the fourth estate v/ere 
v/ont to meet to retail thrilling stories of newspaper daring in eluding 
the Russian press censor in Manchuria and getting in a sensational 
beat for the Dempo, which the Chuo pilfers in its next issue. 

A POLITE CALLDOWN. 

Of course, the rubbing in is done in the most polite fashion, the 
Dempo editor expressing himself something like this : "It gave most 
base me very great pleasure, most honorable editor of the divine 
Chuo, to see that your most august journal deigned honorably to 
quote from my vile Dempo a mean paragraph this morning." 

And without the faintest intention of sarcasm either! Of course, 

this self-abasement is mere form— the Japanese could not be other 

than polite or display the slightest annoyance if he tried — but in nine 

cases out of ten the honorable editor of the Dempo is right when he 

273 



274 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

calls his journal "vile" and the paragraph ''base," For Japan was 
in the grip of the "yellow peril" in journalism. 

SOME NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS. 

It is not to be understood, however, that the entire Japanese press 
is yellow. Far from it. There are at least three notable exceptions 
which would rank high in journalism under any civilization. But the 
majority of the papers of Tokyo and Yokohama have evolved char- 
acters that would do credit to the yellow publications of the United 
States. This section of the Japanese press is young and is sowing its 
wild oats with a zest that would make the most blase of American 
yellow journalists green with envy. 

YELLOW JOURNALISM FLOURISHES. 

To give examples of the domestication of yellow journalism in the 
island empire is not so difficult as it is incredible. The Japanese are 
a most adaptive people. Western ideas appeal to them strongly, and 
it seems that psychologically they have much in common with Ameri- 
cans. They are quick to see a practical advantage and quicker to 
apply it. With them advertising, for instance, is carried on with a 
perfection that makes the Westerner marvel, and for the purpose of 
securing advertising the yellow section has copied all the latest fads 
of the most approved school for booming circulation. 

THE NEWSPAPERS GOT THE GOLD. 

The plan of hiding bags of gold in out-of-the-way places and pub- 
lishing stories in the paper giving clews to the caches, which has been 
tried so successfully by the London Mail and several of the American 
papers, bore its full fruition in Japan. Their method was to conceal 
a token and publish in some obscure part of the paper directions how 
to find it, the finder of the token to receive a handsome reward of 
so many yen. At once this created a furore. It seemed as if the 
native population was token mad. 

For a time it divided attention with the war. But doubts began 
to arise about the honesty of the transaction. Most of the papers 



JAPAN'S YELLOW JOURNALISM. 275 

had taken it up and it seemed that they always allowed a certain 
fixed time to elapse between the publication of the announcement and 
the time for the commencing of the search., When the critical moment 
came it was generally found that someone on the staff or at least in- 
directly connected with the paper, got the token. 

THE LOTTERY SCHEME STRIKES IN. 

No sooner had this run its course than the Chuo resorted to the 
inevitable lottery, which was held at the end of each month for the 
benefit of its subscribers, the prizes being 20 yen debentures of the 
Industries bank. The Niroku, with a policy truly American, followed 
suit with more prizes and of larger value. The Hochi, not to be out- 
done, then put out the scheme that worked the best of all. It was 
the old promise of a prize to anyone who could discover a typograph- 
ical error in its advertising sheet. When it became known that the 
ads of Hochi would be read carefully by a large number of people 
it at once jumped into first place as a medium. The merchants, seeing 
how the lottery ticket craze brought business to the papers, at once 
began to advertise that with certain amounts of goods purchased 
lottery tickets would be given away and it had all the desired effect 
that doubling the number of green trading stamps had in this country. 

TOKYO LOTTERY MAD. 

For the time Tokyo was lottery-mad. Finally the police were forced 
to interfere and yellow journalism looked about for some new thing 
that was not such a flagrant violation of the anti-gambling laws. 
But it paid while it lasted. 

SENSATIONAL WAR NEWS. 

Like yellow journalism elsewhere, after all the funds for the poor 
and the bureaus for this and that are discounted, theie is the news^ 
incidentally. The retailing of delectable bits of scandal, of course, 
gave way to violently sensational war news with the outbreak of 
hostilities which was rushed on the street of Tokyo in the shape of 
extras with a rapidity and unreliability that compared favorably with 



2;6 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Park Row in the days of the Spanish war. Everybody read those 
extras, and, strange to say, great importance was attached to every- 
thing that attained the sacredness of print, despite the fact that each 
successive canard was scarcely in type before it was contradicted. 

The only way for one to avoid getting the most distorted news in 
Japan was to read only the Jiji, the Kokumin or the Asahi, and they 
were only better because they discredited the scare heads of the other 
papers. These three papers represented the best conservative senti- 
ment, but they were powerless to stem the tide of sensationalism. The 
Jiji adopted a rather novel plan of overcoming this abuse of extras by 
publishing the news in its morning edition, with the proviso that "un- 
less something unusual develops there will be no extras," the issuing of 
an extra having become the rule rather than the exception. Of course 
as the day advanced most of the other papers flooded the city with 
extras, which were devoured ravenously. Nobody seemed to notice 
or to care for the fact that the absence of a Jiji extra practically dis- 
credited the news. 

Whether the papers created the v,-ant or the w^ant the papers was too 
metaphysical a question, but the truth of the situation was that the 
war spirit had control of everybody except those at the head of the 
movement. 

THE YELLOWEST ONE OF ALL. 

As if the existing yellowness was not deep-dyed enough another 
journal entered the field which eclipsed them all. This was the 
"Dempo" (Telegraph), which was immediately at sword's points with 
tlie rest of the press for not being yellow enough. Its motto was, 
"Let us fight and win, let us fight and lose, but let us fight." How 
the paper existed is still a wonder from a financial standpoint, for it 
sold for 10 sen a month, which is roughly one-twenty- fourth of a cent 
a copy, and with a circulation of 100,000 would yield only 334 yen 
daily. But it was widely read and before the beginning of the war 
grew daily more violent. One of its noted utterances was that "the 
government is prepared to yield everything to Russia," and the 



JAPAN'S YELLOW JOURNALISM. 2)7 

flowery abuse of the cabinet for this suppositious poHcy was something 
fearful and wonderful to read. 

PRESS IN DARKNESS. 

To show how little the papers actually knew of the status of affairs 
the Shogyo Slumpo flatly contradicted the Dempo and asserted that 
the government had ^'absolutely determined on war unless its pro- 
posals were accepted by Russia in toto." The Shogyo represented the 
interests of the business men of Japan. The Nippon, which repre- 
sented the extreme of Japanese chaucinism, took its stand along with 
the Dempo. The Yomiuri, Hochi, Chuo, Jiminin and other minor 
journals also committed themselves to policies uniting abuse of the 
cautious procrastinating cabinet and loud applause of Koko Hironka, 
who was the president of the prorogued diet which was in open hostil- 
ity to the governm.ent. 

The unanimity of the press in fostering the War spirit in Japan was 
well illustrated by a meeting of Tok3^o and Osaka journalists who 
advocated war, in the kowaido (public hall) of Os.aka. There were 
over 2,500 delegates present indulging in the most impassioned and 
inflammatory oratory, appeallr.g to national patriotism and virtually 
calling for the resignation of the ministry for not rushing into war 
before it did. 




VICEROY ALEXIEFF--"! SEEM TO HAVE CONSIDERABLE COMPANY." 

The first reports of naval reverses sent to the Czar by Viceroy Alexieff were certainly In line with 
those dispatched by the British General Duller and the Spanish General V/ehler. 



CHAPTER XXL 
WOMAN'S PART IN THE WAR. 

Expects Her Son to Return Victorious— Faith as Necessary as Air— The Icon 
Smiles Upon You Everywhere — To the War She Gives Family and Jewels — 
The Japanese Wife— Cleanest People on Earth — Worship Pure Air — Women 
Fought to the Death— Refuse to Weep Over Dead Sons. 

NO contrast between Japan and Russia is greater than that be- 
tween the women of the two countries. The Jap woman who 
with tearless eye sends forth her son to battle for her Emperor 
and who, with true oriental fatalism, has little thought or hope of his 
return^ finds no counterpart in Russia. Both send forth their sons to 
fight for an ideal. These ideals are very far removed. 

EXPECTS HER SON TO RETURN VICTORIOUS. 

The Russian woman confidently expects her son to return vic- 
torious. So does the Russian wife and sweetheart. If the soldier so 
returns it is well. It is God's will. If he falls, to find a lonely and 
forgotten grave in the snowy wilds of a remote corner of the world, 
that, too, is God's will. His will must not be questioned. 

Though defeat prove the portion of the soldier she sends forth, there 
will be no complaint. Tears flow, but no word of bitterness is heard. 
God will manifest His power and will lead His chosen to victory in 
His time. 

It will be at once seen that the Russian woman is above all a re- 
ligious enthusiast. Not that she is lacking in patriotism, for despite 

widespread belief to the contrary, patriotism is a national Russian 

2^79 



28o THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

characteristic. Russia has two sovereign ideals — to carry the faith of 
the Greek Orthodox church to the uttermost ends of the earth, and to 
regenerate the world on the basis of its own forms of social order and 
political authority. 

Every Russian is a member of the Greek Orthodox church, even 
though he may be almost an infidel or an atheist. Church membership 
is a part of his civil life, for the Greek Orthodox church and the Rus- 
sian autocratic government are woven inextricably into each other. 
Every Russian is therefore at once a patriot and a religionist — in the- 
ory, at least — since his church and state are one. 

Incident to "Holy Russia's" mission of regenerating the world 
her more immediate idealistic purpose is to spread her dominion over 
all Asia. To the Russian mind all Japan, China, Persia and India are 
to be Russian. It is Russia that is to restore the cross to Jerusalem 
itself. 

FAITH AS NECESSARY AS AIR. 

A distinguished writer on the subject has said of Russia : "You 
may know all about the industrial and social life of the Russian, how 
he works and how he lives, but unless you know the religious side of 
him you are in utter ignorance concerning him." Faith is as neces- 
sary to his existence as food or air. Speak to the woman toiling in 
the field and ask her the number of her children, and she will say, 
"God gave me three." Question the raihvay laborer digging along the 
right of way. Ask him concerning the latest wreck and he will say 
without a sigh, "God willed it so." 

THE ICON SMILES UPON YOU EVERYWHERE. 

Everywhere you may turn the icon smiles down upon you. In the 
military telegraph office in the furthest Russian outpost, in the peas- 
ant's cottage, in the cabins of the Russian boats, in the home of wealth, 
in the saloon and even in the abode of the fallen, hangs the icon. The 
icon is a little picture or image of Christ, the Virgin, or some venerated 
Russian saint, or both. It is the concrete visible emblem of a pro- 
found racial religious instinct. Noble and peasant, merchant prince 



WOMAN'S PART IN THE WAR. 281 

and factory hand, military officer or rough sailor, it is all the same, 
the religious instinct is there. Superstition some call it. Be that a« it 
may, this religious feeling has, and probably always will be, a power- 
ful influence in shaping the destiny of Russia. 

THE RUSSIAN WOMAN HAS FORGED AHEAD. 

Naturally, of the two, woman is more religiously inclined than man, 
and the Russian woman is no exception to the rule. Recent as was 
her emancipation from conditions almost oriental, the Russian woman 
has forged ahead and is really a force in the great empire. Point to 
a grand column of trees along the roadway and you will be told with 
evidences of pride that the great Catherine planted them. 

The modern woman may not have made any great impression in 
Russia or reared any monuments to her lasting fame, but she is never- 
theless an important factor. She is primarily a producer, and labors 
in the field beside her lord. Instead of the solemn, surly creature she 
is pictured, toiling on with a mind clouded with a bitterness of half- 
conscious oppression, she is a healthy, sturdy example of womanhood, 
rejoicing in the freedom of the field now hers and in common with the 
community and to which only a few years ago she v/as bound a serf, 
in fact a slave. 

Freedom is a blessed thing. The hard-working Russian woman is 
not blind to that. She drops her plodding labor ever and anon to give 
expression to her appreciation in words of thanks. She is a simple, 
sweet, charitable exponent of humility. Unlike the Japanese woman, 
she expects from her husband as much as she gives. Her social status 
may not be exalted, but she looks to her husband not only as her mas- 
ter, but as her companion as well. He may enjoy liberties that she 
does not, but there are stern strict bounds that mark the limitations 
of those liberties. 

Her recognition is complete. She has occupied the throne of the 
land; she marries a priest, if he be her choice, for life companion 
and. she his, and shares with him such veneration as his post accords. 
But that is not very, much, for, contrary to general belief, the people 



282 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

regard the church as their institution and the priests as their servants. 
Mighty ruler though he is, the Czar is not only master, but servant. 
He represents a manifestation of divine will to his people. He is the 
divine instrument for the preservation of order, form and authority. 
It is not marvelous then that the devout Russian woman calmly looks 
upon the gift of her son, her husband or her sweetheart, to the mighty 
Russian army, in the furtherance of the Czar's purposes or ambitions, 
as a common every-day act of loyalty and devotion, 

TO THE WAR SHE GIVES FAMILY AND JEWELS. 

She believes fully in a subconscious way that by the sword must the 
two great Russian ideals be maintained — the preservation of religious 
faith and the extension of order, form and authority as manifested in 
the Russian government. So she cheerfully gives of her family and 
her circle of friends, devoutly prays for success for the Russian arms 
and stolidly goes about her routine labors, vastly increased through the 
absence of the one she gives. 

Nor is that all. Her patriotism finds other and equally tangible 
methods of expression. When the war between Russia and Japan 
opened women throughout the entire empire stripped themselves of 
their jewels, ornaments and luxuries to contribute to the success of 
what appeared in their minds a holy cause. In this the Czarina took 
an active lead, and by her example inspired many to give up to the 
cause all that tended to lift their lives out of the commonplace. 

The Russian woman has experienced no revelation or sudden transi- 
tion. Therefore there is little of the emotional in her preparation for 
war. From childhood she has regarded the carrying of the Cross to 
the rest of the world and the restoration of social order and political 
authority to confused peoples as the great mission of her Czar, her hus- 
band, her own self and all who are dear to her. 

"All in God's own time" is the Russian motto. And she adds to it, 
"All in God's own way." Greater minds than hers presume to fathom 
and to execute what they consider God's plan, and it is only hers to 
contribute what she may to it. This she does cheerfully. 



WOMAN'S PART IN THE WAR. 283 

Social life in Japan is a strange mixture inexplicable to the oc- 
cidental visitor. The country is essentially Eastern, and although 
so extraordinarily hospitable to new ideas, has retained the oriental 
attitude toward women. The social life of the Japanese man is 
divided between two classes of women — the Geisha, who is trained to 
amuse, to sing, to dance, and in fact to minister to his lighter moods, 
and the Japanase wife, trained to strict obedience, and to believe that 
her husband has every right to seek his entertainment outside the walls 
of home. 

The wife is accounted as nothing except as the homekeeper. If an 
invitation is sent to a Japanese to dinner it does not include his wife. 
He is asked to a restaurant where the most beautiful Geishas are 
assembled, and the wife regards this as a natural feature in social life. 

As you drive through Shibat you will know where the Japanese 
gentleman is enjoying himself in the primitive way by large wooden 
lanterns, v/ith paper glasses on the projecting eaves, and by the rick- 
sha boys smoking and doubtless scandal-mongering, and you will hear 
the tinkle of the samisen and the poor little melody of the Geishas' 
voices. 

The Geisha is always the best dressed and the wittiest woman 
in Japan, for the more reputable class of Japanese women do not 
consider it compatible with their respectability to be well dressed. 

But there is one feature in the social life of Japan which is em- 
phasized by all who know the country. Whatever may have been the 
life of a woman previous to marriage she would never be reproached 
for her ill c@nduct after she had settled down to matrimony. 

In fact, the standard for women in Japan is much the same as the 
standard unfortunately upheld by many in Western Christianity for 
men. The aristocratic woman leads a life of intense monotony. She 
has few pleasures beyond admiring flowers in exquisite bloom or 
watching the changing colors of the maple leaves. She seldom goes 
outside her house, as none but the official class have carriages and it 
is considered utterly out of place for the Japanese woman to walk. 



284 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Moreover, her religion is no comfort to her, for should she desire 
to attend her worship regularly she is prevented from doing so, owing 
to the fact that to have religion is regarded as a sign of flightiness, 
an axiom that Confucius long ago laid down for Chinese women, 
who passed it on to Japan. Her privilege is to do all sorts of menial 
work for her husband, mending his clothes and supervising the house- 
hold. 

CLEANEST PEOPLE ON EARTH. 

The Japanese have at any rate one virtue which is usually absent 
in European nations — they are the cleanliest people in the world. 
Even the commonest laborer will take a bath daily, and during the 
hot weather, the leisure classes will take three baths a day. This, of 
course, is utterly unknown elsewhere. 

WORSHIP PURE AIR. 

It is not only in the matter of baths that the Japanese understands 
hygiene. It has been rightly said that they *'eat fresh air v^^ith even 
greater gusto than they consume food." An unlimited supply cir- 
culates through every part of a Japanese house. 

If we walk through the streets of Chicago or New York, in the 
early hours of the morning before the city wakes, it is the rarest thing 
to see a window open ; but in Japan they have learned that brain fag 
and dyspepsia are the result of the v/ant of oxygen, and that if their 
happy, cheerful dispositions are to be maintained it must be because 
they breathe pure air by day and by night. 

A CURIOUS COMPARISON. 

Another curious characteristic af Japan, and one that affects the 
character of its women, is that the enormous growth and the extra- 
ordinary extension of her commerce have in no way changed the 
individuality of the Japanese, their dislike of conventionality, their 
love of freedom. 

In contrasting Japan with our own civilization a well informed 
writer declares it has "become industrial without becoming mechanical 
or artificial." 



WOMAN'S PART IN THE WAR. 285 

He describes the precipices of masonry, considered beautiful in the 
cities of what are called more civilized countries, the slabs of rock 
that we call pavements, and under those pavements a cavernous 
world, tremendous systems of vv^ays contrived for water, steam and 
fire; the cliffs of architecture that shut out the sun, stairways of steel, 
of brass and of stone, and yet men do not use the stairways, but as- 
cend through the decades and the double decades of stories by water 
power, by steam and by electricity. 

HOUSES BUILT ALMOST IN A DAY. 

And then in these vast buildings he describes how heights are 
too great for the voice to traverse, and orders are given and obeyed 
by machinery. With one touch a hundred rooms are lighted or 
lieated. "These leagues of palaces, of warehouses, of structures and 
buildings are not beautiful, but sinister. And there is no halt in the 
thunder of the wheels and the storming of the hoofs and of the 
human feet." And then from that he turns to the Japanese city and 
vividly and in a few lines describes the difference. 

"In the morning," he says, "he passes up the corner of the street, 
wliere some men are setting up bamboo poles on a vacant lot, and after 
five hours he passes again and there is the skeleton of a two-storied 
house. The next forenoon the walls are nearly finished, and by 
sundown the roof has been completely finished. The next morning 
the mattings are down, the inside plasterings are finished, and in 
five days the house is complete. And Japanese cities are composed of 
such buildings." 

A WORD ON JAPANESE ART. 

If you visit in Kyoto the greatest porcelain makers in the world, 
Vv'hose products are known in London, in Paris and in New York, 
the factory is a wooden cottage, and the greatest maker of Cloisonne 
vases produces his miracles of art in a house containing six small 
rooms. It is probably owing to this peculiarity that the Japanese have 
retained so much of the purity of their art. 



286 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

No nation has a better right to be proud of what its women have 
done in wartime than Japan. Even the mothers and wives of ancient 
Sparta have been rivaled in deeds of patriotism and self-sacrifice by 
the women of Japan. 

In the feudal times w^hich came to an end in Japan only thirty 
years ago, all gentlew^omen w-ere trained in the use of the sword and 
lance. The women of the samurai class received a regular military 
education and if the castlt of a daimio was besieged, they w'ere 
capable of assisting in the defense if necessary. 

A noted instance of the martial prowess of the Japanese women 
occurred during the siege of the castle of Wakamatsu m 1869, w^here 
the Shogun made his final stand against the forces of the Mikado. 
Nearly one thousand women and girls belonging to the families of 
samurai attached to the Shogun fought behind the barricades and on 
the castle walls. Many of them were killed in battle, w^hile not a few 
committed suicide rather than undergo the humiliation of defeat. 

Yet the Amazonian qualities of the women of old Japan did not 
detract from their w^omanliness. They w-ere tender mothers and 
loving wives. The nursing of the wounded and sick was part of the 
education of every samurai woman. 

With the passing of the age of chivalry in Japan, upon the down- 
fall of the Shogunate, the Japanese woman was called upon to face 
new conditions, and how she met these conditions is shown in the 
history of the Chinese war of 1895. 

AT THE FRONT AS NURSES. 

It is a matter of record that some 10,000 Japanese women volun- 
teered to go to the front as nurses in the field hospitals at the out- 
break of the Chinese war, and advices from Japan state that the 
number of women w^ho volunteered to go to the front as nurses in 
1904 was greater than in 1895. But the women who stayed at home 
were not lacking in patriotic devotion. 

There is an anecdote concerning the mother of the heroic Com- 



WOMAN'S PART IN THE WAR. 287 

mander Sakamoto, who was killed on the bridge of his ship, the Akagi, 
at the Japo-Chinese battle of Yalu, which shows how the spirit of pa- 
triotism flames in the hearts of Japanese women. 

An official of the Navy Department called on the family of the 
naval officer to convey, as delicately as possible, the news of his 
death. Having communicated his tidings to a member of the family, 
he was about to depart, when the shoji slid open softly and the aged 
mother of the dead commander staggered into the room. 

She had been an accidental eavesdropper and had heard all. 
Trembling with emotion she bowed low to the visiting officer and said : 

"Tell the Emperor I rejoice that a son of mine has been able to 
be of some service to him." 

REFUSE TO WEEP OVER THEIR DEAD SONS. 

Some Japanese women refused to weep over their dead, because it 
was considered disloyal to the Emperor to weep for those who had 
had the honor to die fighting for him. When a wife or a mother 
heard that a husband or a son had been killed in battle, the first ex- 
pression uttered, was an acknowledgement of the honor conferred 
upon her by the gods in being bereaved for the cause of the Emperor. 

To the western mind such patriotism appears to be fantastic and 
hard to understand. In the light of Japanese history it does not seem 
so strange. 

The spirit of patriotism in the Japanese women of the present 
generation Is the outgrowth of ages of feudalism. The loyalty and 
devotion which the women of past generations gave to their feudal 
family head are in the present generation given to the Emperor. 

SETS A GOOD EXAMPLE. 

In the Japanese-Russian war the Empress of Japan set an example 
for all the women of the country by her activities in behalf of all those 
who were suffering or In distress. She might be seen frequently visit- 
ing the great military hospitals, accompanied by a party of court 
ladies and noblemen's wives. 



288 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Following the example of the Empress, all the great ladies of 
Tokyo society did what they could to relieve the distress and suffering 
that inevitably follow war. There was no class of women that did 
not contribute something to this cause from the highest to the lowli- 
est. 

It was not only the women of the samurai class who showed pas- 
sionate patriotism. All classes of society are represented in the mod- 
ern Japanese army, and the peasant woman gave proof that she was 
quite as devoted to the Emperor as the samurai lady. 

A story is told of an old peasant woman who sent her only son 
to fight for the Emperor in the v/ar. By depriving herself of every- 
thing but the barest necessaries of life, and toiling early and late in 
the fields, she had been able to give her son a superior education, and 
she had the satisfaction of seeing him fairly started on a business 
career, v/hich promised to be successful, vv^hen the call to arms 
sounded. 

The little peasant mother bade her son give up his business and 
enter the ranks of the army. The boy did as liis miOther v;ished, and 
his regiment was one of the first to reach the front. 

Every morning just before daybreak the little peasant mother rose 
and, after making a careful toilet, as an orthodox Buddhist, she went 
to a little shrine nearby and prayed to Ojin, the god of war. She 
did not pray for her son to come liome safe and sound, but she prayed 
that he might prove worthy the honor of wearing the Emperor's 
uniform. 




UNCLE SAM—'TLL HAVE TO STOP THIS SOME WAY." 

Uncle Sam Is getting so worked up over this land grabbing that he Is inclined to chop oft the hand 

of the land grabber himself. 

Drawn by C. F. Naughton, of the Minneapolis Tribune. 




^i^//-</*-^ 



THE MONUMENT BUST (BEFORE THE WAR)— "THIS IS EXCITING BUT RATHER 

CONFUSING." 

Up to the very last moment before the outbreak of the war conflicting rumors chased each 
other through the columns of the press. 

Drawn by C. F. Naughton, of tbe Minneapolis Tribune. 




RUSSIA--"THIS ATTACK IN THE REAR, WITH MY TROUBLES AT THE FRONT. 
IS PRETTY TOUGH." 

While Russia was wildly rushing to the front in the Far East, the revolutionists were busy at 
home; and Finns and Poles also threatened to take advantage of her plight. 

Drawn by C. F. Naughton, of the Minneapolis Tribune. 




^ffiJ<i-J^oti 



CHINA — "I AM LARGE, BUT I SEEM TO BE UP AGAINST IT." 

Poor, cumbersome China was between the guns of Russia and Japan, the great White Bear 
threatening Manchuria and the Miliado, Korea. 



Drawn by C. F. Naughton, of the Minneapolis Tribune. 







THE CZAR — "LET NOT MY RIGHT HAND KNOW WHAT MY LEFT HAND DOETH." 

This cartoon well pictures the attitude of Russia, at the opening of the war, protesting her 
peaceful intentions, yet preparing for war. 




SMALL BEAR "FATHER COME HOME WITH ME NOW." 

Drawn by Cartoonist Rehse, of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. 

Domestic Interests evidently thinks that the Russian Bear Is getting gloriously drunk over his 

foreign conquests and rightly suggests that he should come home and attend to Its affairs. 




POOR OLD CHINA— "I SUPPOSE I MUST BE NEUTRAL." 

With Russia and Japan wildly circling around Poor Old China, it was naturally hard for her 

to keep perfectly calm. 

Drawn by C. F. Naughton, of the Minneapolis Tribune. 




RUSSIA— "THIS IS A RATHER FIERCE POND THAT I'VE GOT ON TO." 

Early in the war tlie great powers, at the suggestion of the United States, virtually united to 
maintain the integrity of China, excluding Manchuria from the agreement. 




RUSSIA AND JAPAN (TOGETHER)— " SHALL I TACKLE THE PORCUPINE FIRST?" 

The War Porcupine was a dangerous proposition and botli Russia and Japan understood that 
thoroughlj'. No wonder each hesitated to be the first to tackle it. 



CHAPTER XXIL 
THE BRIGHT VIEW OF RUSSIA. 

Commercial and Sentimental Relations — Anglo-Rebel Warships — Son of W. H. Sew- 
ard Speaks — Russo-American Telegraph Cable Abandoned — Do We See 
Through Colored Glasses? — Shouting Hoarse Over Russia's Hymn — Russia 
Devoid of Snobbishness. 

SO complex and intimate are our relations with Russia that it is 
difficult to approach the subject without emotions bordering on 
trepidation. Probably on no other subject is American popular 
sentiment so generally divided. History reveals much that should en- 
dear Russia to us. At the same time there is much recorded in Rus- 
sian history repellant to the American. 

This sentiment has not been lessened by the literature that emanates 
from Western Europe, the stories that fill the press concerning the 
horrors of Siberian prisons and the treatment accorded the Jews, 
Poles and Finns, nor by the influx of immigration from Western 
Europe, where anti-Russian sentiment is inherent. That there has been 
gross exaggeration is generally accepted, yet it is recognized that 
these grewsome recitals are not without some concrete foundation 
of fact. 

COMMERCIAL AND SENTIMENTAL RELATIONS, 

Our historical, commercial and official relations are of record; our 
sentimental relations are difficult to gauge. That Russia's sympathy 
and support have been of great value to this country on several occa- 
sions is easily verifiable, but it was during the darkest hours of the 
civil war that Russian friendship made its influence most strongly 

307 



3o8 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

felt. Almost from the outbreak of that struggle sentiment in Eng- 
land and France was distinctly hostile to the Union cause. Both 
those powers were quick to take the position that the disruption of 
"what was the United States," as Lord John Russell expressed it, \vas 
an accomplished fact. The one friendly note in the otherwise hostile 
chorus came from Russia. 

Russia's friendship during the civil war. 

As early as July, 1861, Prince Gortschakoff transmitted to the Rus- 
sian representative at Washington a note declaring the Russian gov- 
ernment to be "animated by the most friendly sentiment toward 
the American union." As the war progressed and the South con- 
tinued to win battles, English and French sympathy with the rebellion 
took on a more practical form. Russia's friendly feeling toward the 
North became more and more manifest. 

So far had Anglo-French antipathy gone by the latter part of 1862 
that the United States government was forced to recognize it as a 
serious menace. Emperor Napoleon began to push forward his plan 
of mediation, the plan substantially recognizing the South as a bel- 
ligerent national power. In England warships designed for the Con- 
federate service were being fitted out in defiance of the laws of neu- 
trality. It was then that Russia's friendship began to assumiC a prac- 
tically helpful form, not only in diplomacy, but by more vigorous 
measures. 

Here are some facts worthy of remembrance: On Nov. 6, 1862, 
France announced its intention of inviting England and Russia to 
join in the mediation plan. On Nov. 8 Russia rejected the proposal. 
On Nov. 13 the British government decided that intervention would 
be impracticable and also declined. 

ANGLO-REBEL WARSHIPS. 

iWhile the intervention scheme was stopped for the time being, the 
question of English-built or "Anglo-rebel" warships continued to 
grow more menacing. Early in 1863 John Ericsson, who was called 



THE BRIGHT VIEW OF RUSSIA. 309 

into consultation by the harbor defense commission of New York as 
to plans for the safety of the city, declared that if existing conditions 
continued American ship owners, to save their property from entire de- 
struction, "must withdraw their vessels from every sea, a humiliation 
which the Union cannot submit to." 

Such was the situation when, on Sept. 24, 1863, a squadron of 
Russian vessels under Admiral Lessoffsky, including the steam frig- 
ates Osliaba, Poresviet and Alexander Newsky, the corvettes Variag 
and Vitiaz, and three clipper ships, dropped into New York harbor 
for an indefinite sta}^ They were greeted with many manifestations 
of joy. Then Russia's Asiatic fleet appeared at San Francisco. 
Whether or not it be accepted that the commanders of these fleets, 
who were under sealed orders, had instructions to place themiselves at 
the disposition ci the United States in the event of war with France 
and England, ilie significance of their long sojourn in American 
waters at such a time was unmistakable. Russia could not have hit 
upon a more emphatic way of intimating to the other powers that it 
was prepared to take up the active armed defense of the United 
States. 

The facts are worth calling to notice as a reminder that America 
had every reason for neutrality as to the conflict in the far East. 
This country had little disposition to wish harm to Russian warships 
in the troubled days of 1863. That the money paid for Alaska was 
in large measure a repayment of expenses incurred by Russia in fit- 
ting out and maintaining fleets for the defense of the United States 
against British or French attacks is the belief of many students of the 
history of the American civil war. 

SON OF W. H. SEWARD SPEAKS. 

Of the seven men who were present at the signing of the treaty for 
the annexation of Alaska — to which much significance has been at- 
tached in the attempts to explain the relationship between Russia and 
the United States — but one survives at this writing, this being Fred- 
erick W, Seward, son of Lincoln's Secretary of State, W. H. Seward, 



310 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

who acted as Assistant Secretary under his father. He lives at 
Montrose, N. Y. On Feb. 21, only a few days after the beginning of 
hostilities, I\Ir. Seward made a public statement of the facts dem- 
onstrating the friendship entertained by Russia towards the United 
States in 1861. 

"The spring of that year," he said, "brought the answers of the 
European governments to the communication which the American 
Secretary had addressed to them at the opening of the war. Three 
nations, whose sympathy had been reckoned on, did not disappoint 
the expectations — the republic of Switzerland, the kingdom of Italy 
and the empire of Russia. Prince Gortschakoff, the Russian Prime 
Minister, wrote as follows : 

"The Union is not simply in our eyes an element essential to the 
universal political equilibrium. It constitutes, besides, a nation to 
which our august master and all Russia have pledged the most friendly 
interests, for the two countries, placed at the extremities of the two 
worlds, both in the ascending period of their development, appear 
called to a natural community of interests and of sympathies, of 
which they have already gi\-en mutual proofs to each other.' 

"Early in the war Mr. Seward learned, through the legation at St. 
Petersburg, that an understanding had been effected between the gov- 
ernments of Great Britain and France that they should take one and 
the same course on the subject of the American war, including the 
possible recognition of the rebels. Later the understanding was dis- 
tinctly avowed by M. Thouvenel to Mr. Sanford, of Paris. 

"This alliance or joint action might dictate its own terms. From a 
joint announcement of neutrality it would be a step to joint mediation 
or intervention, and it would hardly be anticipated that the Washing- 
ton government, struggling with an insurrection which had rent the 
country asunder, would be willing to face also the combined power 
of the two great empires of Western Europe. 

"To the minds of the French and English statesmen the project was 
even praiseworthy. It would stop the effusion of blood, as was said, 



THE BRIGHT VIEW OF RUSSIA. 311 

and increase the supply of cotton. It would leave the American 
Union permanently divided, and that was a consummation that Euro- 
pean statesmen in general would not grieve over." 

RUSSO-AMERICAN TELEGRAPH CABLE ABANDONED. 

Continuing, Mr. Seward told of the proposition in 1862, to connect 
Russia and the United States by an overland telegraph circuit 
through Alaska, then Russian territory. The Russian government 
acted in a cordial manner on the proposition, and furnished surveyors 
for its own territory. 

"In the same year," said Mr. Seward, "Simon Cameron, who 
preceded Mr. Stanton as Secretary of War, retired from the War 
Department and accepted the mission to St. Petersburg. On his ar- 
rival, early in the summer, he found many evidences of friendly feel- 
ing there entertained toward the United States. 

"A long conversation with the Emperor, Alexander II, he wrote, 
showed not only hi^ profound interest in everything relating to our 
country, but his accurate knowledge of our situation. Tie declared 
frankly that his sympathies had always been cordial with us, that 
he was very anxious that the United States as a nation should suffer 
no diminution of power or influence; that our interests and those of 
Russia were in many respects identical, and that he was desirous to 
hasten, by all means in his power, the promise of that telegraph en- 
terprise which would enable the two countries to communicate with 
each other. 

"The poles for the telegraph line were cut and the lines were 
marked, but before any wires were strung the Atlantic cable proved a 
success, so the Russo-American telegraph project was abandoned. 

"The plans for the telegraph line to connect the United States 
with Russia by way of Bering strait helped immensely to stimulate 
and cement friendliness between the nations in question. 

"When Russia was asked by France and England to join in pro- 
posals for mediation or intervention she steadfastly declined to do so. 



312 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

unless the United States would ask her help. When, nevertheless, in- 
tervention seemed to be impending, Russia sent a fleet into American 
waters, and that fleet passed the summer and winter there. 

"What was the purpose of that fleet? It was thought best that 
no official announcement of its purpose should be made. Prince 
Gortschakoff was a sagacious diplomat. 

"He merely instructed the Russian Minister to say he was sending 
the fleet over, and that it was there 'for no friendly purpose.' The 
public and the government felt morally certain that while its help 
would probably not be needed, it would be given if it were needed. 

"It was rumored and believed generally that the commanders of the 
fleet had sealed orders, which were not to be broken until they were 
notified by the Russian Minister at Washington." 

COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA. 

So much for the story of the past. Of the present it may be said 
that we sell Russia American products each year ranging close to 
$25,000,000, buying in return about $2,000,000 worth. Russia 
reaps her enornious wheat crops v»nth American made harvesters. 
She v;ent to war -with several American built warships and with 
others driven by steam generated in American built boilers. One such 
warship was the ill-starred Variag, destroyed early in the war. 

SENTIMENTAL RELATIONS WITH EACH CONTESTANT. 

What the administration thought of our relations, not only with 
Russia, but with Japan as well, was expressed by William H. Moody, 
Secretary of the Navy. Speaking at the Lincoln dinner given at the 
Waldorf-Astoria in New York city, with the evident authority of 
President Roosevelt, the Secretary of the Navy said : 

"As we meet to-night, unhappily there is war upon the seas. We are 
upon friendly terms with both of the nations who are engaged in the 
conflict. We are attached, furthermore, by bonds of the deepest sym- 
pathy with each. 

"The one nation endeared itself to the hearts of every American 
by its expression of good will toward us in the days of our sor^ 



THE BRIGHT VIEW OF RUSSIA. 313 

trial. We do not forget such iiiendship. For the other, we occupy 
almost the position of a foster mother, because it was our navy that 
broke through the door of Eastern exclusion and let in the flood of 
sunshine of modern civilization. 

"V\''e have declared our neutrality in this struggle, and we shall 
maintain it. We have no interest except that the war shall end speed- 
ily; no concern except that it may not bring into the struggle any 
other nation except those engaged at present. Gentlemen, I can 
assure you that under no circumstances which I can conceive at 
present is there any possible danger to the peace of our own nation. 

"I can assure you that this nation and its chief know well that 
our dear land loves well the dear paths of peace and does not wish 
war." 

Senator Beveridge, after his travels among the Russians, tells us 
that while the Russians do not approve of republican institutions 
their admiration for the American people as a nation, of American 
achievement in every line of human effort, their friendship for our 
people, which scores of unprejudiced American travelers have noted, 
can ^ seen, heard, felt by any visitor to any portion of the empire 
of the Czar. A few years ago Logan said : "No one who has gone 
among the Russians in a spirit of amity can ever say he was received 
with coldness." Dallas, our Minister there away back in 1838, dwells 
in nearly every page of his diary on the cordiality, the kindness and 
sympathy which met him at every turn from the emperor, who treated 
him like a personal friend, to all with whom he had the slightest 
acquaintance. 

DO WE SEE THROUGH COLORED GLASSES? 

Russia is very far away from us. ' Is it possible that some of our 
ideas of its government and people can have been colored for us in 
England and by the Jewish immigrants in our midst ? Let us look 
into this for a moment. No American can afford to be unjust. 

In 1891, C, A. Stoddard said: "Many tales of Russian exiles and 



314 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

convict life are as imaginary as tho-.c of the 'Arabian Nights,' and 
much Russian news is manufactured in countries hostile to Russia." 
Hear Guild of Boston : "Much of our information respecting Russia 
has been tinctured by prejudices and marred by misrepresentation, as 
the author found from personal experience in many respects." 

Another traveler in 1897 says: "A country of unmitigated gloom 
such as others have pictured Russia to be has never existed on -the 
face of the globe and never can exist. Wherever I went I found the 
national qualities, the same unity of character, the same content wath 
the powers that be, which make Russia not a mere vast geographical 
term but a great nation." 

SCHOOLS AND READING. 

But we hear the Russians are a barbarous people, kept in ig- 
norance by their central government. There are over 80,000 common 
schools in Russia, over 115,000 teachers and four million pupils. 
The reading room of the public library of St, Petersburg, unequaled 
except by that of the British Museum in size, is open daily from ten 
to nine. There were over 1,000,000 books in that library way back 
fifteen years ago, 40,000 manuscripts, 100,000 maps and engravings. 

There is, however, in Russia, we are sagely informed, a dearth of 
newspapers and periodicals. Yes, Moscow has only something over 
one hundred periodicals, and St. Petersburg not quite four hundred. 
Half a century ago only one peasant in fifty could read and write, 
now one in three who enter the army can do both. Two million chil- 
dren, counting only those who have survived their first year, are 
added to the population of Russia every year. It would be quite an 
undertaking to educate such numbers anywhere, but the change in 
this respect in fifty years is considerable, is it not? 

THE RUSSIAN CGIMMUNAL SYSTEM. 

In support of the theory that Russia is a barbarous land, we are 
told the people have no share in the government, Russians will as- 
sure you that the only real democracy is their village communal sys- 



THE BRIGHT VIEW OF RUSSIA. 315 

tern, wholly self-governing as it is except for the fixing of the imperial 
taxes. The heads of families, widows, if they be such, having equal 
voice with the men, come together at the call of an elder, elected viva 
voce by themselves, talk over the allotment of 'the land they hold in 
common, arrange to make every villager do his fair share of its 
work, pay his fair taxes, and the majority, good-natured and reason- 
able, laugh or joke the minority out of any rare grumpiness it may 
show. 

TWO RUSSIAN IDEALS. 

Senator Beveridge says one of the two Russian ideals is the pre- 
servatism of religious faith, and when the rest of the world shall 
have wearied of its spiritual conflicts, the Greek church will restore 
simple faith to men. 

The second Russian ideal is that when the remainder of the world 
shall have completed its circle of liberty, then license, then anarchy, 
then the Russian will restore to the confused, hopeless, struggling 
peoples of the earth, those forms of social order and political author- 
ity which are the foundation stones of civilization. These two ideals 
move with a glacial tendency in a lethargic and multitudinous people, 
reaching back for centuries, reaching forward for centuries more, on 
and on, till they cover Asia, and they move against all reasoning of 
statesmen, all convictions of business interests, all protests of humani- 
tarianism of Russia's intellectual men like Tolstoi. The thing is sub- 
conscious in the nation, it is a popular feeling so deep as to be an in- 
stinct, propelling the Slav to carry the Czar's authority and the Mas- 
ter's religion over all the East. That is the Russian's point of view. 

THE CORDIAL AND HELPFUL RUSSIAN. 

"For myself nothing in Russia was like the Russia of the press," 
writes Mary Gray Morrison in her defense of Russia, after touring 
that country. 

"That appeared to bear the same relation to the reality I met first at 
St. Petersburg as Frankenstein's creation did to a man. It was mon- 



3i6 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

strous ingenious, but it wasn't Russia. From the moment that the tall 
and smiling customs officer lifts his hat and returns you your trunk key 
after ha\ing examined your baggage in the manner of one to whom 
your word counted for something till the last guide you have em- 
ployed wishes you godspeed and bows low to lightly kiss your hand, 
there is evident the wish that you should feel welcome and at home. 
The people do not stare at you in the streets as they go their grave 
way up and down the Nevsky Prospect, but if you pause and look 
puzzled instantly not far from you figures pause, too, with kindly 
faces full of intended helpfulness, ready if you w^ant them, eager to 
try to understand, to tell you, to explain, if only signs may do it. 

"Everywhere is this same cordiality. The Emperor orders the gal- 
leries kept open at unwonted times because it seems a pity tourists 
should come so far and be disappointed. The congregation at St. 
Isaac's or Our Lady of Kazan in the candle-lighted dusk and splendor 
move aside when most closely crowded to let a stranger see the altar 
better, forming an aisle with eager hospitality, and when the service is 
over and they file, prince and peasant, to kiss the images of mother 
and child, set round and glittering amidst gems, smiling faces and 
quick, inviting figures clear the way and show you that whatever odd 
form of heretic you may be, you may also go up to these helpful pres- 
ences — that the benefit is quite, quite open to you. 

KIND TO ANIMALS AND CHILDREN. 

"With his children and his animals the Russian shows uncon- 
sciously to a traveler the same kindliness. Drosky driver and horse 
have a comradeship that is barbarous perhaps, but it is pleasant to see 
the animal rubbing its cheek against the man's rough sleeve as he 
prepares its dinner first and then sits sociably close by and eats his, 
too. Never once anywhere, in carriage or wagon, did I ever see a 
Russian strike his horse. The shock that Italy was in this particular 
after Russia was almost unendurable to one who cares. 

"The fathers and mothers all day long in summer fill the parks on 



THE BRIGHT VIEW OF RUSSIA. 317 

Sundays and holidays with the children, carrying and playing with 
them, entering fully into the foolish little fancies of childhood. At 
the Theater of the People of Nicholas 11. , usually called the People's 
Palace, it is interesting to see crowds of children in boxes reserved 
at every performance in the beautiful opera house for those from 
orphanages. On this island in the Neva, given up to the people's 
pleasures, every form of healthful diversion, including a very splendid 
performance of some opera, is to be had for five cents, with a solid 
supper, if that is wanted, for less than five cents more. We partook 
of one consisting of delicious caviare sandwiches, cold tongue, rolls, 
cakes, and lemonade, the bill for our party of four being twenty-two 
and one-half cents. The gain to temperance among the people of 
this palace can be imagined. I was told that all men who spent their 
evenings there were sure to appear at their work next morning. 

SHOUTING HOARSE OVER RUSSIANS HYMN. 

"Anyone who doubts the love of a Russian for his native land, if 
such a one there be, should hear the Russian Hymn sung by principals 
and chorus grouped on the large stage of the opera house there, before 
the performance, and hear the enormous audience shout itself hoarse 
and demand the hymn again, and vainly attempt to have it a third 
time. I went to see the Exchange of the Poor in Moscow one day, a 
great square, where those who want work go, and to which employers 
resort for men in any numbers they require. I was assured that work 
was found for all there. The city wagon with food was just bringing 
the waiting crowd their luncheon. Many of the people had samovars, 
and in groups were making tea and talking and eating. They come 
often from great distances, and in a block of large houses opposite the 
square they can have supper and breakfast and bed for fifteen cents 
of our money, while they wait for work, and in still another block of 
houses just off the square these necessities are given free to needy la- 
borers at the expense of rich Russians. 

"In this old capital, too, is that enormous Foundling Hospital 
about which everyone knows, but what may be new to some readers 



3i8 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

is what I learned there, that the children, after a life in some village 
until they are six years old, are brought back to the hospital, ex- 
amined as to health and intelligence, and then fully educated and 
provided a place in life. They absorb two ideas incidentally during 
this wardship by the state, first : Russia is your father and your 
mother ; none other have you had but her. Second : Upon yourself 
individually will depend what you rise to be; no one will ask further 
whence you came. Some of the highest of^cers in the army spent 
their first weeks of life in this great, sunny, cleanly place, with 
its splendid gardens. 

"This brings me to a principle of democracy that lies at the depths 
of the Russian character, from Czar to peasant, wdiich makes the Czar 
choose a simple iron bed and furniture covered with print, costing 
three cents a yard, and w^iich in the service at church provides no 
seats for emperor or empress or peasant alike, because there is no dis- 
tinction before God. 

"This principle appears in the crowds of poor people daily w'alking 
through the palace, where priceless treasures lie often within the reach 
of any hand, and sitting to rest upon the rich furniture in the galleries 
which is evidently put there to be used. This principle is what makes 
Russia a country of v>-hich an English woman said she preferred it 
above all others in the world because it was so free — so utterly with- 
out snobbishness, she meant — so ready to accept a man or woman so- 
cially for what he personally could contribute to it and nothing else. 

"At the American consulate in Warsaw 1 was told that the Russian 
peasant works in the fields from four in the morning till half-past 
eight or nine at night. He is no financier, and the Jews buy of him 
and sell his grain. In his poor, ignorant, slow head a blind rage once 
in a while develops as he sees that in some way he cannot understand 
there is injustice, that he gets almost nothing for his endless toil. A 
Russian gentleman added to this the explanation that the Government 
had encouraged Jewish emigration of late to help the peasant to live 
fairly upon what he had earned. 



THE BRIGHT VIEW OF RUSSIA. 



319 



■''While we cry out for The Hague tribunal and disclaim war, in 
general, do riot let us forget that the world of twenty Christian cen- 
turies owes to the Emperor of Russia the suggestion of disarmament 
among nations, the latest as it is the most conspicuous contribution 
toward the possibility of peace on earth." 




The bear that hugs like a man — only tighter. 




J?USSIA--"NO FAIR! I V/ASN'T READY." 

Drawn by Cartoonist Kehse, of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. 
Two weeks after the opening of hostilities Russia sent a formal protest to all the great powers 
against the alleged violation by Japan of the principles of international law in attacking 
her fleet at Port Arthur without a specilic declaration of war. 




CHAPTER XXIII. 
RUSSIA'S MENACING POWER. 

Remarkable Prediction of a French Writer — Prophecies of a Great Historian— A 
Note of Warning— Official Relations with Russia— Russia Apparently Check- 
mated — Abolished the Serfdom of the Press. 

HE views regarding Russia given in the preceding chapter are 
in curious contrast with those of a distinguished EngHsh 
writer who recently declared of the land of the Nihilist: 
"The future history of Russia will be the history of the French rev- 
olution over again, with this difference — that the educated classes, the 
thinkers, who are pushing forward the dumb masses, are doing so with 
their eyes open. There will be no Mirabeau, no Danton, to be ap- 
palled at the people's ingratitude. The men who to-day are working 
for revolution in Russia number among their ranks statesmen, soldiers, 
delicately nurtured women, rich landowners, prosperous tradesmen, 
students familiar with the lessons of history. They have no miscon- 
ceptions concerning the blind Frankenstein into which they are breath- 
ing life. He will crush them; they know it. But with them he will 
crush the injustice and stupidity they have grown to hate better than 
they love themselves. The Russian peasant when he rises will prove 
more terrible, more pitiless than were the men of 1790. He is less 
intelligent, more brutal." 

SHALL THE PACIFIC BE RUSSIAN OR ANGLO-SAXON ? 

A number of years ago Judge Emery Speer, of Georgia, on the 

bench of the United States Court of Appeals, spoke as follows : 

321 



322 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

"Events have not altogether verified tlie famous remark of Napoleon, 
that in fifty years Europe would be republican or Cossack^ but repub- 
lican and Cossack have at length met for a trial of strength. The 
guerdon of the struggle is twofold; shall the commerce of Asia be 
open to the world, or shall it be dominated by the Slav? Shall the 
Pacific Ocean be a Russian or an Anglo-Saxon sea? As the control 
of this great ocean, which has been justly termed the theater of events 
in the world's great hereafter, shall be settled, so likewise will be the 
power and prestige of our country. 

"We have seen that the trade of the Orient is essential to the dis- 
tribution of our surplus products. This distribution failing, reaction- 
ary movements on all lines and national decadence v^-ill inevitably re- 
sult. Profound was the observation of Sir Walter Raleigh : 'Who- 
soever commands the sea commands trade, and whosoever commands 
th.e trade of the world, commands the riches of the world, and conse- 
quently the world itself.' 

"There has been a remarkable parallel in the development of power 
between the English-speaking and the Slavonic races. In Russia east- 
ward, and in America and the British possessions westward the star 
of empire takes its way. Utterly conflicting in theories of govern- 
ment, the Anglo-Saxon is the chief bulwark of civil and religious 
liberty on earth, the Slav the representative of despotism in state and 
church. The Anglo-Saxon bases his civilization on the development 
of the individual, and Russia in all of its history has relied upon his 
suppression. 

REMARKABLE PREDICTION OF A FRENCH WRITER. 

"A French writer has predicted that a hundred years hence, leav- 
ing China out of the question, there will be two colossal powers in 
the world, beside which Germany, England and France will be as 
pigmies, the United States and Russia. If this prediction be true, 
and China cannot be left out of the question ; if Great Britain, in her 
isolation, is to meet her downfall, if our republic, great as it is, is to 
remain the sole obstacle to the ever-progressing, steady-grinding, 



RUSSIA'S MENACING POWER. 323 

glacier-like movement of Slavonic power, it vs^ill result from trivial 
jealousies, from baseless prejudices, and an ignoble rancor for past 
differences between the tv/o great members of the Anglo-Saxon race, 
with a common blood, a common history, a common freedom of re- 
ligion, a common liberty of conscience, a common literature, a com- 
mon language ; and the spectacle will present the inexpiable crime of 
the ages. Nor are these contingencies of the future merely con- 
jectural. 

THE POLICY OF RUSSIA. 

"The empire of the Great White Czar now includes all that terri- 
tory of the world's surface where were hatched those devouring 
swarms from the northern hive which in ages past have often changed 
the fate of nations and the maps of Asia and Europe. The cabinet 
of Russia, from the time when that gigantic power stood forth as a 
portent to the surrounding nations, has been governed by a consistent, 
unvarying principle. 

" Tt rests,' said the historian Alison, 'on a combination of physical 
strength with diplomatic address, of perseverance in object with ver- 
satility of means, which was never before exhibited on the theater of 
the world.' 

"Said the Russian historian, Karamsin, with a frankness almost 
brutal: 'The object and the character of our military policy has in- 
variably been to seek to be at peace with everybody and to make con- 
quests without war; always keeping on the defensive, placing no 
faith in the friendship of those whose interests do not accord with 
our own, and losing no opportunity of injuring them without osten- 
sibly breaking our treaties with them.' 

"While the cool, imperturbable policy of the government never 
makes it anticipate the period of action, and never relaxes the sinews 
of preparation, the inextinguishable passion for conquest among the 
masses of the Russian people respond with enthusiasm to every ag- 
gressive disposition of the Czar. The meanest peasant in Russia,' 
says Alison, *is impressed with the belief that his country is destined 



324 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

to subdue the world. The rudest nomad of the steppes pants for tlie 
period when a second Timur is to open the gates of Derbend and let 
loose upon Southern Asia the long-pent-up forces of the northern 
wilds.' 

PROPHECIES OF A GREAT HISTORIAN. 

"The physical power of Russia is commensurate with the vast 
schemes of aggrandisement of its government, and if equaled at all is 
equaled alone by the combined development of all the English speak- 
ing people. Writing in 1842 Alison predicted that in 1900 Russia 
would have a population of 120,000,000. In 1900 its population was 
136,000,000. It has been little more than 200 years since Peter the 
Great mounted the throne of Russia. This is but a brief span in his- 
tory. There are many present whose grandfathers and some whose 
fathers might have talked with Gen. Oglethorpe, the noble founder 
of Georgia, and Gen. Oglethorpe might have talked with Peter the 
Great. When that ferocious Muscovite resolved to arouse the latent 
forces of his empire, Russia had no seaport save frozen Archangel 
on the Arctic sea, and the Russian power was given as little consid- 
eration by the cabinets of Europe as we now give to the Imaun of 
Muscat or the Ahkound of Swat. 

BEGINNING OF RUSSIAN NAVY. 

"With his own hand Peter aided in the construction of the small 
and rude vessel, yet religiously preserved by the Russians, which was 
the foundation of their magnificent navy, now on all the oceans the 
third in power. Now, three mighty seas, the Caspian, the Euxine and 
the Baltic, are practically Russian lakes. Rapidly is she extending 
her influence over Persia and forging her way to harbors on the flank 
of England's communications with her Indian possessions. 

"When she is ready Turkey and all the powers of Europe com- 
bined cannot prevent her from seizing Constantinople and the Darda- 
nelles. Her Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest in the world, is 
practically completed to that great fortress on the Pacific, Vladivostok, 
whose very name imports 'the dominator of the East,' and its Man- 



RUSSIA'S MENACING POWER. 325 

churian branch is rapidly approaching unsurpassed Port Arthur, which 
bears a relation to North China scarcely less important than that of 
New York to the Middle and Eastern States of our Union. 'Russia,' 
said a modern writer who lived much among its people, 'does not covet 
India, but she does intend to appropriate, and imagines that Provi- 
dence has appointed her to possess Persia, Turkey, Afghanistan, 
Tibet and China.' In the light of recent events who can gainsay the 
truth of this observation ? 

"Well may we accept the eloquent statement of Alison : 'Never 
since the god Terminus first receded with the Roman eagles in the 
provinces beyond the Euphrates, has so steady and uninterrupted ad- 
vance been made by any empire towards universal dominion; and 
it is hard to say whether it has prevailed most by the ability of diplo- 
matic address or the vigor of warlike achievement.' 

"Than Napoleon Bonaparte no member of the human race has ever 
been better fitted both by genius and experience to estimate the power 
of Russia. In the seclusion of his imprisonment at St. Helena, with 
all the experience of his marvelous history, his profound genius no 
longer disturbed by the phantoms of ambition, he exclaimed to his de- 
voted Las Casas : 'Russia is like the Antseus of the fable, which can 
not be overcome but by seizing it by the middle and stifling it in the 
arms. But where,' said he, 'is the Hercules to be found who will at- 
tempt such an enterprise?' 

"But the imagination even of Napoleon could not conceive the 
evolution of national power in Russia since these words were uttered, 
and yet he did not overestimate the heroic, imperturbable courage of 
the Russian character. He recalled the blood and carnage of Eylau, 
the incarnadined redoubts of Smolensko and Borodino, the flames of 
Moscow, the piteous destruction of his grand army, and the terrible 
passage of the bridge of the Beresina. In spite of his military genius, 
in spite of the heroism of his grenadiers, who had borne the French 
eagles from the steeples of Notre Dame to the towers of every capi- 
tal in Europe, he knew that the Cossacks of the Don had lighted their 



326 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

bivouac fires on the Champs Elysee and tethered their ponies amid 
the pahns and roses in the gardens of the Tuilleries. 

"Nor are their soldiers more heroic than their sailors. Said Lord 
Nelson, the greatest sea captain of the English race : 'Lay yourselves 
alongside a Frenchman, but outmaneuver a Russian.' 

A NOTE OF WARNING. 

"With all the wealth and might of the great American republic, 
our statesmen cannot afford indifference to the determined aggressions 
of this gigantic Asiatic power. Yes, Asiatic! 'Africa,' said Victor 
Hugo, 'begins at thie Pyrenees,' and we may add that Asia extends 
to the banks of the Niemen and to the mouths of the Danube. Said 
Napoleon, 'Grattez le 'Russe, et trouverez le Tartare' ('Scratch a Rus- 
sian and you find a Tartar'). 

"Men speak of the traditional friendship of Russia with the United 
States. It is, and has ever been, meretricious. The cords that bind 
us have been ropes of sand. Friendship is impossible between indi- 
vidual liberty and absolutism, between autocracy and representati'-:'^ 
government. E\'en now tlie most serious blows to our commerce have 
of late been aimed by the Russian ministry (the day these words were 
spoken Russia imposed new and prohibitive duties on American naval 
stores and bicycles), and had the territories of the United States been 
accessible to them our fair land of freedom would have been harried 
and ravaged Ijy the soldiers of the Czar, in whose hands the machine 
gun and the breech-loader have been but substituted for the lance of 
the Cossack and the sword and bow of the Scythian, unless indeed the 
dauntless soul and strong arm of the sons of America had hurled 
them back shattered and bleeding to their regions of ices and snows." 

OFFICIAL RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA. 

These citations will serve amply to illustrate the broad latitude as- 
sumed by Americans in the expression of sentiment for and against 
Russia. It still leaves the reader incapable of forming any estimate 
of American feefing save his own. In our official relations with Rus- 



RUSSIA'S MENACING POWER. 327 

sia, It is different. The United States has always stood for the "open 
door" in the far East — equal trade advantages with all. Just before 
the opening of the war, the United States Government again laid down 
that it is "irrevocably committed to the policy of the open door," se- 
curing for its commerce free entry nito Manchuria and other parts 
of China, as well as in Korea, free entry through specified ports. 
How rapidly America's com.mercial interests are growing may be 
gauged from the fact that American exports to China — a large part 
of which have gone to Manchuria — were computed to have increased 
from $4,000,000 In 1893 to $24,000,000 in 1903, although that ex- 
port trade with China, owing to the abnormal condition of Man- 
churia, fell off by some $7,000,000 in the ten months ended October 
30, 1903, compared with the corresponding period in 1902. Having 
secured certain rights of open trade in the Chinese Empire, including 
Manchuria, and obtained recognition by the European powers of the 
principles of the open door as put forward by Secretary Hay in his 
negotiations of 1899- 1900, the United States readily declared neu- 
trality when the struggle opened. 

RUSSIA APPARENTLY CHECKMATED. 

Possibilities of a diplomatic breach with Russia followed a note ad- 
dressed by Secretary Hay to the powers, seeking to commit them to 
a policy of confining the field of hostilities to the territory in dis- 
pute and to guarantee China against complications and further par- 
tition. Each revolution in the wheel of diplomatic events makes it 
more apparent that Secretary Hay played a strong card skilfully when 
he dispatched his note concerning the neutrality of China to the gov- 
ernments at St. Petersburg, Tokyo and Pekin. It was not to be 
doubted that the powers would assent to the propriety of confining 
the actual hostilities in the far East to as small an area as possible. 
The advantages of such a plan, to the belligerents and the Bone of 
Contention as well as to the world at large, were evident. 

But the crucial passage in the Hay pronouncement was the expres- 



328 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

sion of the desires of the United States with regard to the Chinese 
Empire. The language of the note in this respect was deftly vague. 
It was impossible for the nations addressed to take umbrage, and had 
they ventured to flatly refuse the principle implied they would have 
been put in a position of avowing intentions which none of them, 
Russia least of all, was willing to avow. The result is that both Rus- 
sia and Japan virtually acquiesced in the idea that, no matter what 
the outcome of their struggle, the territorial extent of China was not 
to be diminished. 

This move made by the United States almost certainly had the ef- 
fect of seriously disarranging the plans of Russia in the Orient, as- 
suming that Russia sought further expansion in Asia. 

Without assuming the least degree of hostility, and without im- 
pugning the motives of any nation, Mr. Hay rendered seemingly im- 
passable one of the main roads over which Russia was credited with 
having hoped to march to hegemony in the far East. Without other 
apparent thought than the welfare of civilization, he apparently check- 
mated a body of men who are reckoned the shrewdest of shrewd dip- 
lomats. 

Russia's answer in reply was practically the same as those of the 
other powers, recognizing the neutralit}' of China, with the exception 
of Manchuria. The terms of the Russian reply were substantially 
as follows : 

"Russia will be glad to join with the other powers in the recognition 
of Chinese neutrality on three conditions : 

"First — That China shall maintain neutrality. 

"Second — That Japan shall loyally support this neutrality. 

"Third — That ]\Ianchuria, being the field of military operations, 
shall not be included." 

ABOLISHED THE SERFDOM OF THE PRESS. 

On the same day the important reply was formulated and when the 
press of the world was a unit in declaring Russia incensed because of 
American "interference," the Russian Government abolished the cen- 



RUSSIA'S MENACING POWER. 329 

sorship upon all nev/s and other telegrams going abroad. The lift- 
ing of the embargo which had existed, to a greater or less degree, for 
generations upon the free transmission of news from Russia came as 
a direct result of consideration of the subject by the Czar. In some 
respects the action was regarded abroad as the most important act 
since the emancipation of the serfs. 

It was through American influences that the decision was reached, 
contradicting forcibly the reports concerning unfriendly sentiment to- 
ward Americans in Russia. 

"For years," said a prominent Russian, "our country has been the 
victim of every imaginable slander and misrepresentation because it 
was known that telegrams addressed to foreign nev/s sources went 
through the hands of the Russian censor. Any story, no matter how 
baseless or exaggerated, that was sent surreptitiously across the 
border, was greedily accepted abroad as true because the government 
would not put its official stamp upon it. 

"Regular anti-Russian news factories have been in operation in 
Berlin, Vienna and elsewhere, and these have spread the most absurd 
and preposterous libels. Every act of the government has been twisted 
and distorted. Insignificant student affairs or workmen's riots have 
been magnified into great movements of popular discontent until cer- 
tain portions of the world have been ready to believe that Russia was 
perpetually on the eve of a great revolution. 

"Some English newspapers especially have conducted systematic 
campaigns against us. Moreover, the fact that dispatches were cen- 
sored has often been interpreted as semi-official authorization, when 
perhaps they in no sense represented the view of the government. 
Hereafter the correspondents of foreign newspapers will be untram- 
meled. We expect to see Russia presented in her true light. The 
opening of the flood gates may result in the evilly disposed stirring 
up as much mud as possible at first, but we are not afraid to have the 
light turned on." 

Foreign telegrams until a short time before were under censorship 



330 



THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 



of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but since the death of M. Gretch, 
who was at one time connected with the Russian embassy at Washing- 
ton, the censorship had been temporarily under the Ministry of the 
Interior. 

News telegrams addressed to foreign sources originating in the most 
distant parts of the empire, Vladivostok, for example, or Odessa, were 
formerly telegraphed to St. Petersburg, to be passed on. M. Plehve, 
minister of the interior, and Count Lamsdorff, the foreign minister, 
both joined in the recommendation that the censorship be abolished. 

The internal censorship was retained, but foreign dispatches were 
made free. Inasmuch as a state of war existed telegrams from the 
theater of hostilities were subjected to the same kind of military cen- 
sorship enforced in all countries under similar circumstances. 




JOHN BULL— "Drop those chickens, you scounflrel!" 




CHAPTER XXIV. 
RUSSIANS PROTEST AND JAPAN^S REPLY. 

Is a Formal War Declaration Necessary?— The Chemulpo Attack Examined— Korea 
Declared Neutrality — France Upheld Russia's Views — Poor Korea rflildly 
Protests— Japan's Formal Reply to Russia— Refused to Meet Proposals- 
Busy Preparing for War — Responsibility v/ith Russia. 

N Feb. 23, 1904, the Russian government called the attention of 
neutral governments to two instances of alleged violation of the 
law of nations by Japan. One of them was the attack on the 
Russian fleet at Port Arthur on the evening of Feb. 8-9, and the other 
the demand that the two Russian cruisers should leave the neutral port 
of Chemulpo to fight a superior Japanese fleet under penalty of attack 
within the harbor. It was asserted that the law of nations was vio- 
lated in both instances, because, at the time, there had been no formal 
declaration of war, and the Japanese minister at St. Petersburg and 
the Russian minister at Tokyo had not left their posts. 

IS A FORMAL WAR DECLARATION NECESSARY? 

The good faith of the Russian government in sending the note 
cannot be questioned. Doubtless it believed the law of nations had 
been violated and was the more inclined to complain because the con- 
sequences had been disastrous to Russia. But the contention that a 
formal declaration of war must precede active hostilities cannot be 
admitted. It was customary once, but is so no longer. Russia herself 
has not invariably prefaced active hostilities with a formal declaration 
of war. An eminent American authority on international law says : 

331 



332 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

"This disuse of declarations does not grow out of an intention to 
take the enemy at unawares, which would imply an extreme degrada- 
tion of moral principle, but out of the publicity and circulation of intel- 
ligence peculiar to modern times. States have now resident ambassa- 
dors within each other's bounds who are accurately informed in regard 
to the probabilities of war, and can forewarn their countrymen. War 
is for the most part the end of a long thread of negotiations and can 
be generally foreseen." 

On Feb. 7 negotiations between Russia and Japan came to a sud- 
den end. The Japanese government ordered the Russian minister 
to leave Tokyo and told its minister to Russia to ask lor his passports. 
That news was printed in the great centers of the world on the morn- 
ing of the 8th. It was known at St. Petersburg on that date, and if 
the Russian government did not notify Admiral Alexiefif and order 
him to be on his guard it v\^as inexcusably remiss. Under the cir- 
cumstances the breaking off of diplomatic relations was a declaration 
of war. It made no difference that the Russian and Japanese minis- 
ters had not left Tokyo and St. Petersburg. Their functions were 
at an end. 

THE CHEMULPO ATTxVCK EXAMINED. 

The demand of the stronger Japanese fleet that the two Rus- 
sian cruisers should leave the neutral Korean harbor of Chemulpo 
and go to meet certain destruction seemed cruel to tender-hearted peo- 
ple. If the Russians had refused to come out and the Japanese fleet 
had entered the harbor and attacked them it would have done what the 
English did when they sunk the American frigate Essex in the neutral 
harbor of Valparaiso or what Capt. Collins of the \Vachusett did 
wlicn he entered the neutral port of Bahia and captured the confederate 
privateer Florida, which was at anchor there and would not come 
out to fight. 

The law of nations is that when a ship of war of a belligerent enters 
a neutral port it shall be required to leave in twenty-four hours except 
in casft of stress of weather or when it has to make necessary repairs. 



RUSSIA'S PROTEST AND JAPAN'S REPLY. 333 

It was because of that rule that the Japanese government would 
have called the attention of France to the fact that Russian vessels 
were staying too long at Jibutil in French Somaliland, if they had not 
been ordered back to the Baltic. It is because of that rule that the 
Japanese asked the Chinese authorities to order the Russian gunboat 
Mandjui to leave Shanghai. 

The Russian cruisers which were at Chemulpo were sunk on the 
9th. If they had been in any port except a Korean one Japan would 
not have ordered them to leave or threatened to go in after them 
if they did not. Japan did not look on Korea as a neutral nation. It 
looked on Korea as a seat of war, and was of the opinion that it 
had a right to make short work of any of the enemy's ships found in 
its harbors. 

The truth is, Russia should have been on the alert. It should have 
struck, if in a position to do so, the moment the news came of the 
rupture of diplomatic relations and let the Japanese government 
complain of violations of the law of nations. Probably that govern- 
ment would not have said< a word if it had been dealt the first blow. 
Russia's formal protest. 

The formal protest of Foreign Minister Lamsdorff to the powers 
representing that Japan violated the laws of nations, which was given 
to the Russian representatives in foreign capitals, says : 

''Since the rupture of the negotiations between Russia and Japan the 
attitude of the Tokyo cabinet has constituted open violation of all cus- 
tomary laws governing the mutual relations of civilized nations. 
Without specifying each particular violation of these laws on the part 
of Japan the imperial government considers it necessary to draw 
the most serious attention of the powers to the acts of violence com- 
mitted by the Japanese government with respect to Korea. 

"The independence and integrity of Korea, as a fully independent 
empire, has been fully recognized by all the powers, and the inviola- 
bility of this fundamntal principle was confirmed by article i of the 
Shimonoseka treaty and by the agreement especially concluded for 



334 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

this purpose between Japan and Great Britain on Jan. 30, 1902, as well 
as by the Franco-Russian declaration of March 16, 1902. 

KOREA DECLARED NEUTRALITY. 

"The Emperor of Korea, foreseeing the danger of a possible con- 
flict between Russia and Japan, addressed early in January, 1904, a 
note to all the powers declaring his determination to preserve the 
strictest neutrality. This declaration was received with satisfaction 
by the powers, and it was ratified by Russia. According to the Rus- 
sian minister to Korea, the British government charged the British 
diplomatic representative at Seoul to present an official note to the 
Emperor of Korea thanking him for his declaration of neutrality. 

"In disregard of all these facts, in spite of all treaties, in spite of its 
obligations, and in violation of the fundamental rules of international 
law, it has been proved by exact and fully confirmed facts that the 
Japanese government — 

"First, before the opening of hostilities against Russia, landed ith 
troops in the independent empire of Korea, which had declared its 
neutrality. 

''Second, with a division of its fleet it made a sudden attack on Feb. 
g — that is, three days prior to the declaration of war — on two Russian 
warships in the neutral port of Chemulpo. The commanders of these 
ships had not been notified of the severance of diplomatic relations, 
as the Japanese maliciously stopped the delivery of Russian telegrams 
by the Danish cable, and destroyed the telegraphic communication of 
the Korean government. The details of this dastardly attack are con- 
tained and published in an official telegram from the Russian minister 
at Seoul. 

"Third, in spite of the international laws above mentioned, and 
shortly before the opening of hostilities the Japanese captured as 
prizes of war certain Russian merchant ships in neutral ports of 
Korea. 

"Fourth, Japan declared to the Emperor of Korea, through the 
Japanese minister at Seoul, that Korea would henceforth be under 



RUSSIA'S PROTEST AND JAPAN'S REPLY. 335 

Japanese administration, and slie warned the Emperor that in case 
of his non-compliance Japanese troops would occupy the palace. 

"Fifth, through the French minister at Seoul she summoned the 
Russian representative at the Korean court to leave the country, with 
the staffs of the Russian legation and consulate. 

FORMAL PROTEST IS LODGED. 

"Recognizing that all the above facts constitute a flagrant breach 
of international law, the imperial government considers it its duty to 
lodge a protest with all the powers against this procedure of the 
Japanese government, and it is firmly convinced that all the powers, 
valuing the principles which guarantee their relations, will agree with 
the Russian attitude. 

"At the same time the imperial government considers it necessary to 
issue a timely warning that, owing to Japan's illegal assumption of 
power in Korea, the government declares all orders and declarations 
which may be issued on the part of the Korean government to be 
invalid. 

"I beg you to communicate this document to the governments to 
which you are accredited." 

FRANCE UPHELD RUSSIANS VIEWS. 

Naturally Russia had the sympathetic support of France in the 
former's representation to the powers that Japan was guilty of a viola- 
tion of international law in the instances and manner above specified. 

No intention was shown, however, in official circles to take up the 
Russian note on the subject with the view of pressing action by the 
powers, and it was said that nothing effective could be done in that 
direction. France v/as satisfied from the first of the unjustifiability 
of the Japanese action, and was anxious that the other powers should 
come to appreciate the enormity of the offense. 

POINT TO SPECIFIC OFFENSE. 

In this connection attention was called to the occupation of Korea 
by Japanese troops, in spite of the declaration of Korean neutrality, 



336 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

which was communicated to all the neutral powers as well as to the 
belligerents. It was pointed out that Japan had not hesitated to throw 
troops into Korea and to establish a base there. It was suggested in 
diplomatic circles that France, which had been charged with the pro- 
tection of Russian interests in Korea, could properly make objection to 
the Japanese action. But nothing of this kind was done. The French 
legation at Seoul was in charge of the secretary and interpreter, the 
minister being in Paris on leave of absence and the French foreign 
office showed no inclination to order his return. 

POOR KOREA MILDLY PROTESTS. 

At the Korean legation it was said that Korea had declared her neu- 
trality from the outset and that therefore if the Japanese occupied 
Korean territory and proposed marching through Korea on their way 
to Manchuria it was not with Korea's consent, but because she was 
unable to prevent it. The legation officials added that the fifty thou- 
sand stands of arms recently ordered by Korea from France w-ould 
remain at Hongkong for the time being, in order that they might not 
be seized by the Japanese. 

Subsequently Japan made a treaty w'ith Korea, guaranteeing her in- 
tegrity, and the two formed a military alliance against Russia. On 
account of the insignificance of Korea, as a nation, however, France 
refused to consider this move sufficient grounds for coming to the as- 
sistance of the Czar. 

japan's formal reply to RUSSIA. 

On March 2 was made public the Japanese imperial edict, or note of 
reply to the formal Russian protest, already published. It was as fol- 
lows : 

"The Russian Government has charged Japan with having treacher- 
ously obtained a victory by a sudden attack upon Russia, who w^as 
bent upon maintaining peace. It is further asserted that since a rup- 
ture of diplomatic relations can never be looked upon as the opening 
of hostilities, and since Japan did not issue a declaration of war until 




A JAPANESE BATTLESHIP PRACTICING TORPEDO DEFENSE. 



To WARD off the projected torpedo, the sides of the modern battleship are protected by 
huge nets stretched on poles, and the order " out nets " is followed by prodigious activity on 
the part of the Japs, who are being put through their war drill. (102) 




JAPANESE PRACTICING WITH A QUICK-FIRING GUN. 

In their dashes to surprise the enemy, it was particularly desirable that the Japanese 
should be masters in the handling of quick-firing guns. They are seen here in one of their 
many practices aboard an ironclad. (^27) 




CAPTURE OF A SPY AT PORT ARTHUR. 

The Japanese spy system was particularly dangerous to the Russians, because of the 
comparative similarity in stature and general appearance between the average Jap and 
Chinese cooley. Thus disguised, several Japanese were arrested in the fortifications 



at Port Arthur. 



(101) 




SUBJECTS OF NICHOLAS II IN ASIATIC RUSSIA. 

Over the vast extent of Asiatic Russia, or Siberia, are scattered more distinct tribes 
and races of men than fail to the lot of any other power than Russia to govern. From an 
examination of the types of this motley collection, it may be inferred that Russia's policy 
of first instilling fear in her Asiatic subjects is the only effective one. (122) 




A RUSSIAN ENCAMPMENT ON THE YALU RIVER. 

Each of these tents is occupied by three Russians. The tent stands three feet and a 
half from the ground, is placed over a hole filled with straw, and is covered with the exca- 
vated earth and snow. (113^ 




EUROPEAN AND ASIATIC SUBJECTS OF NICHOLAS II. 

The small outline map gives an idea of the stupendous reach of the Czar's dominions. 
The types of people, sometimes called the " Little Father's Children," range from the Jew, 
the Pole, and Finn, who protest against the appellation, to the half-savage Asiatic Wind. (124) 







il\J 



RUSSIAN RAILWAY CROSSING A FROZEN RIVER. 

The military field railway was often Russia's " right-hand man " in the transportation 
of her armies to the far East. The gauge of such railroads is narrow, and the sleepers are 
very long, in order that the weight may be more evenly distributed and to guard, as far as 
possible, again?t the danger from ice fissures, (llO^ 




JAPAN'S POWER AFLOAT. 

Japan's strength as a naval power was admitted from the first. Her navy at rest, 
with its eight great battleships and her host of cruisers and boats of the torpedo type, was a 
fine sight— in action, superb. (114) 



<-}|ftffi«*s°'*3i«?»**»*^*^ 




READY FOR ACTION. 



A MODERN naval squadron, with all steam up, ready to sally forth and give battle to the 
fenemy, is a blood stirring sight. Battleships and cruisers, torpedo boats, torpedo boat 
Pestroyers, gunboats, coast defense vessels, and despatch boats all make up the array. (H5) 




SUSPECTED OF MEDDLING WITH THE RAILWAY LINE. 

Fully one-third of the Russian forces, in one way and another, was occupied in guard- 
ing the Trans-Siberian Railway, especially in Manchuria. Japanese disguised as cooley 
laborers were arrested for meddling with the line, and it was an anxious moment for them 
when they were brought befpre the officer of the Cossack railway patrol for examination. 

(130) 



'""X*^ 









■low aEA 



.. RAvt.W«Ya> VrtOJI 







ri'SAN 



Tsushima./ 



THE JAPANESE FLANKING MOVEM ENT TOWARD MUKDEN. 

The opening of the war was occupied by naval attacks upon Port Arthur and Vladivos- 
tok. The land operations covered such an extensive territory that several weeks elapsed 
before the general plan of the Japanese campaign even developed. Its main feature was 
the flanking movement here illustrated. (105) 




A VICTIM TO DUTY. 

The midwinter advance to the Korean frontiers by the Russians was attended by fear- 
ful hardships. The outposts were first occupied by bands of Cossacks, who were often out 
of reach of the main body. Many of them, in consequence, were frozen to death. (ii9) 




MANCHURIAN BANDITS ATTACKING A COSSACK RAILWAY GUARD. 

In defending the line of the Manchurian branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the 
Russians had no more dangerous enemies to contend with than the Chinese bandits of that 
region, known as Hunghuses. It was never ascertained just in how far these fierce Man- 
churian outlaws had an understanding with China or Japan. (108) 




BRINGING P/IANCHURIAN SUSPECTS BEFORE A RUSSIAN OFFICER. 

The Chunchuses were Manchurian bandits who were suspected of harrassing the Rus- 
sians in Manchuria. They are here being brought before the officer of a Russian advance 
guard for examination. (118) 




THE DRY DOCK AT PORT ARTHUR. 

Early in the war the dry dock at Port Arthur was run to its full capacity in making 
repairs, especially upon the three disabled battleships torpedoed by the Japanese during 
their first attack. Many Finns were employed there as skilled workmen, the heaviest 
manual labor being put upon the coolies. (100) 




l-\^i^*>Ut.i 



RUSSIAN SAILORS PUTTING TORPEDOES ABOARD THE CZAREVITCH. 

Eight hours before the commencement of hostilities between Japan and Russia the 
great Russian battleship, the Czarevitch, placed aboard a large number of torpedoes, in the 
expectation of launching them at the enemy. The torpedo attack of the Japanese flotilla, 
however, saved her that trouble, and she herself was made a battered target. (128) 



RUSSIA'S PROTEST AND JAPAN'S REPLY. 353 

the nth of February, she has been guilty of a flagrant breach of the 
principles of international law in making as early as the 8th of Feb- 
ruary most unwarrantable attacks on Russian men-of-war and mer- 
chant vessels. 

"The answer to these charges may be found in the action of Rus- 
sia herself. That her governmient never entertained any sincere desire 
for peace can be clearly seen from its conduct. 

REFUSED TO MEET PROPOSALS. 

"Throughout the whole course of the negotiations Russia persist- 
ently refused to meet the proposals made by Japan in a moderate 
and conciliatory spirit. By delays that could not be construed as other- 
wise than wanton and unnecessary she put off the settlement of the 
questions at issue, while at the same time busily extending her naval 
and military preparations. 

"Her warlike preparations in the far East since last April, when she 
failed to carry out her treaty engageiricnt to evacuate Manchuria, are 
in full confirmation of these statements. 

"During that time the increase made in her naval strength in the 
far East was as follows : Three battleships, tonnage, 38,488 ; one ar- 
mored cruiser, tonnage, 7,726; five cruisers, tonnage, 26,417; seven de- 
stroyers, tonnage, 2,450; one gunboat, tonnage, 1,334; two vessels for 
laying mines, tonnage, 6,000. Total number of vessels, nineteen, with 
a total tonnage of 82,415. 

SENT BOATS BY RAIL. 

"In addition to these vessels, the Russian Government sent torpedo 
destroyers in sections by rail to Port Arthur, where the work of putting 
them together has been hastened, and seven of them have already been 
completed. Furthermore, two vessels of the volunteer fleet were armed 
at Vladivostok and hoisted the Russian naval ensign. 

"The Russian Government also ordered to the far East one battle- 
ship, three cruisers, seven destroyers and four torpedo beats of a total 
tonnage of about 30,740, which would have joined the Russian squad- 



354 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

roll in the far East had not circumstances subsequently compelled Rus- 
sia to recall them. These vessels, if added to the others brought to the 
far East during the progress of the negotiations, would have made a 
total increase in Russia's naval strength of about 1 13,000 tons. During 
the same period the increase of Russia's land forces in the far East 
has been equally marked. 

"Since the 29th of last June, when, under the pretext of a trial trans- 
portation on the Siberian Railway, the Russian Government sent to 
China two infantry brigades, two artillery battalions and a large 
force of cavalry, troops have been constantly sent by military trains 
from Russia to the far East, until at the beginning of February the to- 
tal augmented strength was over 40,000. At the same time plans were 
being made for sending if necessary over 200,000 men more. 

BUSY PREPARING FOR WAR. 

"During the same period there had been the greatest activity possi- 
ble at Port Arthur and Vladivostok, and work has been carried on day 
and night to strengthen the fortifications of those naval ports, while 
forts have been built at Hunchun, Liao-Yang and other strategic points, 
and large quantities of arms and ammunition have been sent to the far 
East by the Siberian Railway and the vessels of the fleet. In the mid- 
dle of October last a train of fourteen cars was hurriedly sent from 
Russia, laden with the equipment of a field hospital. 

"From these military and naval preparations of every description, 
made during the progress of the negotiations, it is quite evident that 
Russia was not inclined to a friendly settlement of the questions then 
under discussion between Japan and herself, but sought solely by her 
military preponderance to force Japan into submission. During the 
latter part of January and in the beginning of February Russian mili- 
tary activity was still further intensified. 

"On January 21 about two battalions of infantry and a detachment 
of cavalry were sent from Port Arthur and Dalny to the northern fron- 
tier of Korea, and on January 28 a formal order to prepare for war was 



RUSSIA'S PROTEST AND JAPAN'S REPLY. 355 

given by Admiral Alexieff to the forces which were stationed in the 
vicinity of the Yalu. 

ORDERED TO WITHDRAW. 

"On February i the military commandant in Vladivostok, under 
the orders of his government, requested the Japanese commercial agent 
at that port to notify his nationals that, as a state of siege might be 
proclaimed at any moment, they must make immediate preparations to 
withdraw to Haborovsk. About the same date all of the warships at 
Port Arthur, except a battleship then under repair, made a naval dem- 
onstration by leaving port, while troops were advanced in large num- 
bers from Liao-Yang toward the Yalu. 

"In view of these facts, who can say that Russia had no warlike in- 
tentions or that she was unprepared for war? 

"Seeing that the situation had become so critical that it admitted of 
no further delay, the Japanese Government was compelled to break off 
negotiations that had proved abortive and to take the necessary steps 
for self-protection. But the responsibility for the challenge to war 
rests not with Japan, but solely with Russia. 

RESPONSIBILITY WITH RUSSIA. 

"On the 6th of February Japan announced to Russia her determina- 
tion to terminate the pending negotiations and to take such independ- 
ent action as she might deem best to defend her position, menaced by 
Russia, and to protect her established rights and legitimate interests. 
At the same time the government of Japan informed the Russian gov- 
ernment that, as the moderate and unselfish proposals in the interest 
of a firm and lasting peace in the far East had not received the con- 
sideration which was their due, Japan had resolved to sever her rela- 
tions with Russia, which, for the reasons named, had ceased to possess 
value, and to withdraw her legation. 

"The term 'independent action' naturally included the opening of 
hostilities. The fact that Russia was unable to understand it in that 
light is, of course, no reason why Japan should be held responsible for 
the misinterpretation of Russia. 



356 



THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 



"The almost unanimous opinion of international jurists is that a dec- 
laration of war is not an indispensable pre-requisite to the opening of 
hostilities. 

"Indeed, it has been the common practice in recent wars to declare 
war after hostilities have been begun. Japan's action, therefore, is not 
open to the least criticism in this regard. 

"From the standpoint of international law, it must be acknowledged 
that the charge made against her does not come with a good grace 
from Russia, inasmuch as there are not only many instances in which 
Russia herself resorted to hostilities without declaring war, but one 
case, that of her invasion of Finland, when she began war before there 
had even been a rupture of diplomatic relations." 




Can They Stand the Strain? 




CHAPTER XXV. 
OUR RELATIONS WITH JAPAN. 

Japanese Admiral and "Wife, American Products — Japan Adopts America's Cry- 
United States Refused an Entangling AUiance^ — ^Americans and Russians 
Greatest Japanese Tourists— Explanation of a Polite Japanese Spy — Amer- 
ica's Friendship in Evidence. 

LTHOUGH in no sense of the word flesh of our flesh and bone 
of our bone, distant, plucky little Japan is a child of the United 
States. It was an American sailor who plucked the island 
empire out of the darkness of oriental slumber in which it had lain for 
centuries. Fifty-two years ago Commodore Perry introduced the land 
of the Rising Sun to the nations of the world. Since that day Amer- 
ican ideas and ideals have, more than those of any other nation, been 
incorporated in the Japanese scheme of progress and development. 
American schools have been thronged with Japanese pupils and Amer- 
ican trade with Japan has increased with tremendous strides. An- 
napolis and West Point have been centers of intense interest to the 
Jap, who has absorbed almost everything valuable we have had to give 
in the fields of art, science, mechanics and military and naval tactics. 

Quick to realize the true status of the Caucasian nations in the never 
ending struggle for commercial and territorial supremacy, Japan 
learned early in its intercourse with the nations that in the United 
States only a friend and counsellor could be found free from suspicion 
of entertaining ulterior designs against its empire. That more than 
any other circumstance accounts for the remarkably close relations 

357 



358 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

that for half a century have been maintained between Japan and the 
United States. 

JAPANESE ADMIRAL AND WIFE AMERICAN PRODUCTS. 

One Httle circumstance will illustrate the closeness of these relations 
perhaps as fully as pages could. When a Japanese fleet caught, forced 
into a fight and destroyed the Russian cruiser Variag and gunboat 
Korietz at Chemulpo during the first 24 hours of the war, it was a 
mind trained in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis that 
directed the Japanese action. The emblem of Admiral Uriu floated 
from the flagship of the Japanese fleet. Uriu was a graduate of 
Annapolis. His wife, too, may thank this country for her finished 
education, for she was a graduate of Vassar. 

JAPAN ADOPTS AMERICAN CRY. 

It may be that Japan after its reformation and the close study it 
gave us in modeling its governmental organization absorbed the expan- 
sion fever from us. In any event it adopted our cry of "Westward 
ho !" Weary of her isolation as an island empire she sought to gain 
a foothold on the mainland of Asia by securing an ascendancy over 
Korea, unmilitary and empty-handed, and over which China and Japan 
both claimed to be suzerains. 

japan's WAR WITH CHINA. 

In order to assert her position Japan declared war against China 
in 1894 and drove the Chinese army out of Korea. She also landed 
an army corps in Manchuria and conquered the province of Liao-Tung, 
which contains Port Arthur, Talienwan — both military strongholds 
on the Yellow sea — and the rich and ancient Tartar capital, Mukden. 

China sued for peace. In the negotiations which followed she 
ceded to Japan not only the island of Formosa, but the Manchurian 
province of Liaotong. This province reaches from the north of Korea 
to the Gulf of Pechili, the sea threshold of the route to Pekin. 

It exactly suited the swiftly expanding ambitions of Japan. It 



OUR RELATIONS WITH JAPAN. 359 

placed Korea helplessly between her territorial frontiers and gave her 
the greatest military and naval stronghold in Asia — Port Arthur. 
The Japanese were delirious with pride. 

UNITED STATES REFUSED AN ENTANGLING ALLIANCE. 

The diplomatic struggle that robbed Japan of the fruits of its ag- 
gression and cut short its exultation has already been fully described. 
It is quite possible that our freedom from participation in the game of 
diplomacy' that so embittered Japan toward the powers of continental 
Europe may have increased Japanese friendship for the United States. 
It also awakened Japan to the necessity of a strengthening alliance 
to make more certain her position of independence among her greedy 
neighbors from Europe, fast locating about her on every side. Such 
an offensive and defensive alliance was out of the question with the 
United States, so Japan turned to England. The latter, overburdened 
with oriental chestnuts that she might want pulled from the fire at any 
moment, was not slow to realize the tremendous advantages of such a 
fact with the energetic, militant Yankee of the orient and met nego- 
tions more than half way. 

THE ANGLO- JAPANESE ALLIANCE. 

To thus Strengthen her position Japan made a treaty of alliance with 
Great Britain in February, 1902, in which the two countries agreed 
to do everything necessary to maintain the independence and territorial 
integrity of China and Korea, and also agreed, in case war should 
ensue, that if other powers should join the aggressor in hostilities 
against one of the contracting parties, the other should go to its assist- 
ance. 

So Japan, representing heathen civilization, in taking the initiative 
against Russia, representing Christian civilization, was fortified with 
the knowledge that she was backed with the moral support of mighty 
England — a matter of no small consequence to the contending bel- 
ligerents. The existence of the treaty itself was fraught with serious 
consequences indeed in the event of violation of the principles of neu- 
trality by any power in sympathy with Russia. 



36o THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Pro-Japan sentiment, so generally expressed in America at the out- 
break of hostilities, was perhaps traceable not only to the fact that it is 
American nature to take the side of the weaker against the stronger, 
but because the United States feels a strong admiration for what the 
island empire has accomplished within the last three decades. Then, 
again, the United States was to some extent the sponsor of Japan, as 
having introduced her into the comity of nations, and we had no reason 
to be ashamed of our foster child. Japan, indeed, had always fulfilled 
her treaty obligations, sometimes not without great difficulty. 

Japan, since the revolution in 1868, had toiled ceaselessly to place 
her independence upon a firm basis. Her efforts were laudable and 
she accomplished her object. 

The truly oriental politeness of the Japanese — a sign of "equality" 
— the politeness of this hierarchical East, is in surprising contrast with 
the aggressive rudeness of our democratic communities. Gentleness, 
cordiality, are the Japanese rule. No scenes of violence. The readi- 
ness with which Europeans fly into a passion stupefies the Japanese, 
appears to them to be a sign of innate coarseness. In his considera- 
tion for others a Japanese habitually refrains from making any show 
of his personal sorrows. Only her vanity has led Europe to fancy 
that the Japanese regard Western civilization as superior to their own, 
and that, therefore, they are "Europeanizing" themselves purposely. 
The same, to a great extent, may be said of the United States. Japan 
considers herself pretty near all right, although willing to borrow that 
which is useful in others. One has only to leave the beaten path of 
the tourist to find that out. 

AMERICANS AND RUSSIANS GREATEST JAPANESE TOURISTS. 

No people are more generally found as tourists and winter residents 
of Japan than Americans, with the exception of the Russians. With 
the gradual development of Russian interests in the far East, Japan 
became a great winter resort for Russian families. More lavish even 
than Americans in their demand for the best and in prodigal expendi- 
tures of money, they formed a rare target for the ingenuity of the Jap- 



OUR RELATIONS WITH JAPAN. 361 

anese merchant. Both American and Russian tourists and resorters in 
large numbers were caught by the sudden outbreak of war and fell 
victims to a multiplicity of annoyances, increased by the withdrawal of 
the usual excellent steamship facilities for coming and going from 
Japan. 

American interests experienced much annoyance from the system 
of espionage that prevailed throughout Japan long before the war — 
prompted no doubt by the certainty that hostilities would follow. The 
system of espionage covered foreigners and natives alike, and if there 
was anything it missed it was ver}^ small. 

EXPLANATION OF A POLITE JAPANESE SPY. 

The care which considered the possible meaning of private tele- 
grams also inspected the goings and comings of private persons. One 
day two Americans came out of a hotel in Tokyo and started for a 
morning walk. Before they had gone far they discovered that they 
were followed. Both were husky men, and they gave the spy a 
merry chase for an hour. Then they brought him back to the hotel, 
and while one kept him occupied the other went into the hotel and 
got an interpreter. Then they demanded to know what he meant by 
following them. There Vv-as an exciting debate between the inter- 
preter and the other. 

Then the interpreter said with true oriental blandness : 
"He says he is from the country and has never been in Tokyo before 
in his life. You are the first foreigners he has ever seen, and he was 
so much interested in your manner and your dress and your talk that 
he followed you. He meant no offense and asks your pardon." 

JAPANESE HARD TO UNDERSTAND. 

It is difficult for the American to form a satisfactory estimate of 
the Jap. Individually, in the American university or business house, we 
have him on dress parade; collectively, at home, we are scarcely able 
to comprehend him, to penetrate his emotionless reserve, his childlike, 
bland ingenuity. 



362 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

We have had plenty of glowing eulogists of the Japanese and some 
detractors. Percival Lowell undertook to say on the strength of a com- 
paratively superficial acquaintance with this people that they lack per- 
sonality and individual soul, even that they "do not think," while Basil 
H. Chamberlain, who makes Japan his home, has reached an opposite 
conclusion after a residence of many years. Another writer on things 
Japanese, a German of Dutch descent named Ten Kate, has just con- 
tributed the harshest verdict which has yet ' appeared ; he accuses the 
Japanese of lack of the love of truth, lack of depth in intellect and 
sentiment and inaccessibility to abstract ideas. He says they have no 
individuality, are unstable and easily moved by suggestions from 
stronger minds, are wanting in tenacity of purpose and grit, are open 
to paradoxes and slaves to vanity and jingoism. 

Ten Kate has only faults to find in the Japanese, but he remains in 
Japan, as so many others before him, who have not been able to escape 
the charm of the country while grumbling at the people who make 
the land delightful. He even goes so far as to charge them with 
monotonous features, with looking all alike, and, of course, he recounts 
as examples of their heartlessness the cheerful tone they employ when 
speaking of the dead and the bloody deeds which are found in their 
history under the Shoguns down to the disappearance of the Sho- 
gunate in 1868. 

Fortunately for the Japanese, there are foreigners among them who 
dissent utterly from such an indictment of a nation. Dr. Baelz has 
lived in Japan more than a quarter century as a practicing physician, 
a teacher, and a writer on Japanese matters. He has employed many 
Japanese as trained nurses and in other capacities, and he reports 
that his experience proves just the contrary. From other physicians 
and from Americans and Europeans who employ native labor he ob- 
tains the same evidence in favor of the quickness and thoughtfulness of 
the Japanese. The adverse opinions he attributes to the difficulty of 
getting information from people who are very sensitive to ridicule, 
who often pretend not to understand when asked questions they think 



OUR RELATIONS WITH JAPAN. 363 

are dictated by pure curiosity, and to some degree also to the unsettled 
condition of mind in a country which has made recently such ex- 
traordinary changes in politics and social conditions. 

America's friendship in evidence. 

It is needless to say that the trend of American sentiment has always 
been favorable to the Japanese, as witness the fact that New York 
Japs were able to secure pledges for $5,000,000 aid for their mother 
country within a week of the declaration of war. At the same time 
George D. Morgan, nephew of J. Pierpont Morgan, came tripping 
back to America with a Japanese bride, Yuki Kato — surely an evidence 
that that young globe trotter subscribed to no dark views of the Japa- 
nese woman. About that time, too, many Americans were preparing 
to help scores of Japs in all parts of America and hundreds in Hawaii 
to start for home, in event of an expected call for the army reserves. 
Corps of physicians and nurses, too, were being organized to lend 
their assistance to the Japs. 

In Japan there is an American legation at Tokyo, a consulate gen- 
eral at Yokohama and consulates at Kobe, Nagasaki and Tamsui. The 
last named port is on the Island of Formosa, far to the south, which 
fell within the sovereignty of Japan after her war with China. 

America has had much to do with the development of Japan from 
every possible standpoint. An American seaman. Perry, "opened" the 
country to the trade of the world. The American Minister Harris 
made the first treaty with Japan. The first election under the Japanese 
constitution was held on July 4, 1890. The United States govern- 
ment gave Japan her first foreign order for a ship — a small gunboat 
wanted in a hurry for the Philippines. The United States first moved 
at the beginning of the Japanese-Russian war to preserve the integrity 
of China, which was one thing of all others that Japan, as the cham- 
pion of Asia for Asiatics, wants. 

The dates of Japan's new birth are conveniently remembered. The 
Perry expedition landed in July, 1853. Previously foreigners could 



3^4 



THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 



construction period in Japan rotig^ :- orresponded with our own. 
New Japan dates from 1867. All ■ great material changes have 
been made since that year. The new constitution went into effect and 
the parhament assembled in 1890. 




JAPAN (early in the war)— "So far, I weigh more than you: 




CHAPTER XXVL 
THE RUSSIANS' ^'BENEVOLENT ASSIMILATION/' 

First Teach Subject Races to Fear Them — An Asiatic Commanding Asiatics — First 
the Sword, then Sugar — Wounds Quickly Healed— England's Asiatic Rule 
from a Russian Standpoint — Russia's Asiatic Rule from an English Stand- 
point. 

OU Anglo-Saxons are fond of talking about 'benevolent assim- 
ilation'," said a former captain in the Russian army, who was 
then living in New York, "but if you want to see it really put 
into practice you ought to travel through Russian Asia. Wherever you 
went, from the Caucasus to Vladivostok, you could find the natives 
living happily under our rule and becoming thoroughly Russianized, if 
they had not already become so. 

FIRST TEACH SUBJECT RACES TO FEAR THEM. 

"As soon as we have taught them to fear and respect us we mix 
with them freely. We do not hold ourselves aloof as if we were 
made of a different kind of clay and were altogether superior beings, 
as other foreigners do. V/e are half-orientals ourselves, of course, 
and naturally do not share the color prejudices of the American, 
the Englishman and the German. We freely interm.arry with the 
Asiatics, among whom it may be our destiny to live, and Vv^e encour- 
age them to rise to the highest civil and military positions in the 
Czar's service, if they are worthy to fill them. 

"Thus it is that our Asiatic subjects grow to like our rule, and 
in time become more Russian than the Russians. They are fond 

365 



366 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

of giving a Russian twist to their names as soon as they enter the 
Czar's service. 

AN ASIATIC COMMANDING ASIATICS. 

"More than once the supreme active command in the Russian army 
has been held by an Asiatic, and there is absolutely no barrier to its 
being so held today. Terfioukashoff commanded the forces in Central 
Asia — an Asiatic commanding Asiatics. Can you imagine England 
intrusting the command of either the Indian or the English armies 
to a Sikh or a Ghurka, however fine a soldier he might be? Why, 
he could not even command a company ! He might become an officer 
in name, but practically he would be subordinate to the rawest Eng- 
lish subaltern, although he were the gray-bearded veteran of a dozen 
wars. 

FIRST THE SWORD, THEN SUGAR. 

"The English gain the hatred of Asiatics by treating them like 
children ; the Germans use the sword first, and then the whip, never 
letting the people down at all; the French colonies in Asia are hells 
paved with good intentions; the Dutch in Java are greedy and ty- 
rannical. The Russians alone know how to handle Asiatics properly, 
and obtain the best results from conquering them. That is why we 
have been able to march right across the continent from the Urals 
and the Caucasus to the shores of the Pacific. We conquer, and then 
we make the people glad they were conquered." 

"The Russians," says an observing writer v;ho had traveled widely 
in Manchuria, "hold the sword in the right hand and a bit of sugar 
in the left, and when they have done with the one they begin with 
the other." 

This has always been the policy of Russia in Asia, and it explains 
why she holds her vast oriental conquests with such apparent ease 
and is less troubled with rebellions than any other great power hold- 
ing sway over a multitude of subject races. 

Foreigners are surprised at the quickness with which Russia lays 
down the sword and offers the lump of sugar to vanquished orientals. 



THE RUSSIANS' BENEVOLENT ASSIMILATION. 367 

Makdum Kuli, a warrior chieftain, was the heart and soul of the 
defense of Geok Tepe in the Turkoman campaign of the early eighties. 
The ashes of Geiok Tepe had hardly grown cold, the bodies of thou- 
sands of his massacred tribesmen were still unburied, when Makdum 
Kuli was visited by a Russian secret agent, who found him in the 
midst of the army he had rallied for another stand against the Rus- 
sian invaders. This agent persuaded him to give in and go to Rus- 
sia as the guest of the czar, whose coronation was then due at Mos- 
cow. 

"The untutored Turkoman chieftain," said an Englishman who 
met Makdum Kuli at that city, "was the honored guest at the coro- 
nation festivities. Greater attention was paid to him than to Euro- 
pean kings and princes. It was a master stroke of policy. When he 
got back to his own country and told of the wonderful sights he 
had seen, of all the power and splendor of Russia, there was no 
more talk of fighting. His account of the size of the Russian army 
converted the war party, but far more potent were the handsome 
Russian uniform he wore and the stories he told of the great favors 
conferred upon him by the Great White Czar. All the other Turko- 
man chieftains became keenly anxious to make the acquaintance of 
such a generous master." 

ENGLAND^S ASIATIC RULE FROM A RUSSIAN STANDPOINT. 

General Skoboleff, a famous Russian soldier, compared English 
and Russian administration in Asia in an article which he wrote 
for the Russ in January, 1885. His views were, of course, preju- 
diced, but they were interesting. 

"England lays a heavy hand on her dependent people," he said. 
"She reduces them to a state of slavery, only that English trade 
may profit and Englishmen grow rich. The deaths of millions in 
India from starvation have been caused indirectly by English des- 
potism. And the press of England disseminates far and wide the 
idea of Russia being a country of barbarians. Thousands of natives 
in India only await Russia's crusade of deliverance. 



368 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

*Tf Englishmen would only throw aside their misplaced pride, 
and study a little deeper the foundation of Russia's power in central 
Asia, comparing it with their own, they would soon see plainly why 
the name of Russia has such prestige in Asia, and why the natives 
of India hate the dominion of England and set their hopes of free- 
dom upon Russia. 

"Russia gives full liberty to native manners, and not only does 
not overburden her subjects with fresh taxes, but even allows them 
exemptions and privileges of a most extensive character. England, 
on the contrary, is a vampire, sucking the last drop of blood out 
of India." 

RUSSIANS ASIATIC RULE FROM AN ENGLISH STANDPOINT. 

Compare the foregoing with this view, expressed by an English- 
m.an in a series of letters touching on conditions in Persia, China 
and throughout the far East just before Russia and Japan came to 
blows : 

"In a word, Russia is reaping today the results of a carefully 
thought out, consistent and persevering policy, carried out by a staff 
of highly trained officials, especially equipped with thorough knowl- 
edge of the language, the customs and tlie people of the country. 
It may be asked why, if Persia is already so completely in her grip, 
she prefers not to enter into actual possession. The ansv/er is an 
easy one to those v/ho have followed Russian policy in other parts 
of the East. Russia prefers a feeble and bankrupt oriental neighbor 
to an annexed dependency. She has learned the secret of ruling 
an eastern state through its nominal owners, if only they are weak, 
corrupt and in her pay. 

"Russia has not only advanced right across the continent of Asia 
to the Pacific, and consolidated her dominions by the construction of 
the greatest trunk line railroad in the world, but she has moved 
southward all along the line with gigantic strides. In the West the 
Black sea is, except in name, a Russian lake like the Caspian, and 
in the East a fortress more formidable than Sebastopol ever was 



THE RUSSIANS' BENEVOLENT ASSIMILATION. 369 

is growing up at Port Arthur to command the entrance to the gulf 
of PechiH. '> 

"The Central Asian khanates and the Turkoman tribes have been 
swallowed up. The Trans-Caspian railway skirting the northeastern 
frontier of Persia runs through Merv to the boundary stones of 
iVfghanistan, and Tashkend will shortly be connected by rail with 
the Siberian railway, as it already is with the Caspian. Nor is the 
onward march of Russia to be measured merely by the tens of thou- 
sands of square miles which have been brought under direct subjec- 
tion to her rule. She holds the Shah and the central government 
of Persia in the hollow of her hand by the two-fold power of the 
sword and of the purse. In the northern provinces she is supreme 
in all but name, and she makes no secret of her intention to carry 
her ascendency down to the Persian gulf and the Indian ocean, 

"Her frontier marches with that of Afghanistan where the latter 
is most vulnerable. Farther east, in Chinese Turkestan and Mon- 
golia, her power waxes in proportion as that of Pekin wanes, and all 
these outlying dependencies of the Chinese Empire are , going the 
way Manchuria has already gone." 




THE JAPS (SCENE No. 1) "THE FIGHT SEEMS TO BE GOING OUR WAY." 
THE JAPS (SCENE No. 2) "LOST! LOST!" (AS THEY RECEIVE A VOLLEY OF RUSSIAN 

ADJECTIVES.) 
Drav.li by Cartoonist Rclise, of tho St. Paul Pioneer-Press. 
These war pictures require no furtiicr explanation than the remarks quoted above. 




CHAPTER XXVII. 
THE STORY OF MANCHURIA. 

Russia's Advance Begins with Her Defeat in Crimean War— March of the Great 
"White Bear to the Water — Russia as China's Protector — Manchuria, Russia's 
Land of Promise. 

T the beginning of the war Manchuria seemed to be the Russian 
sphere of influence in Northern China. Russia had occupied 
this great province of the Chinese Empire under a twenty-five- 
year lease obtained in November, 1897, of the Liao-Tung peninsula, 
including Port Arthur and Talienwan, by which she acquired a naval 
base commanding from the north the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili 
and secured an ice-free port on the Pacific ocean as a terminus for her 
Trans-Siberian railway. 

This concession was followed in the next year by others, which 
allowed Russia continuing privileges covering the whole of Man- 
churia. When the Boxer rising took place, in 1900, Russia promptly 
occupied the province with her troops, and though she promised to' 
the suzerain power at Pekin that she would gradually withdraw them, 
the date fixed for the evacuation (October, 1903) passed without 
the pledge being carried out. 

Manchuria's commercial centers. 

Manchuria itself has an area of about 94,000 square miles, with a 
population estimated at 5,500,000. At the outbreak of the war the 
most important center was Harbin, where is the junction for the 
branches of the Trans-Siberian railway running to Vladivostok and 

371 



372 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Niu-Chwang and Dalny respectively. Niu-Chwang, Mukden and 
Kirin were important commercial cities, through which American, 
Japanese and British goods had for many years made their way 
into the country. Under the commercial treaties of the United States 
and Japan with China, ratified in December, 1903, the "open door" 
was preserved at Mukden and Antung by the United States and 
Japan. 

There were many American and British missionaries all through 
Manchuria possessing buildings and hospitals. The Russian troops 
in occupation were distributed along the railway from the Amur 
river in the north to the Yalu river. In the Japan sea, on the east 
coast of Russian Siberia and Korea, Russia's naval action was very- 
much confined by the geographical position of Japan. Vladivostok 
as a naval base was almost useless in winter. 

PLEDGED TO CHINESE AND KOREAN INDEPENDENCE. 

While in the war Russia and Japan stood opposed to each other, 
with Korea as the bone of contention, in political as well as commercial 
rivalry, it was only by a wilful oversight that the commercial inter- 
ests of other nations were ignored as a potent factor in the struggle. 
That they could stand by as uninterested spectators seemed a futile 
expectation. Great Britain had on her part committed herself, by 
treaty concluded in January, 1902, with Japan, to joint action with 
that country, the preamble specifically stating that the two govern- 
ments are "specifically interested in maintaining the independence 
and territorial integrity of the empires of China and Korea." 

Other nations had rights and privileges at stake, among which 
our own had no small part. Of this detailed information may be 
found in the chapter devoted to our relations with Russia. 

RUSSIAN ADVANCE BEGINS WITH HER DEFEAT IN CRIMEAN WAR. 

The history of modern Manchuria is in reality the story of the 
Russian advance in population, territory and prestige. It may appear 
a paradox, but this really began with the end of the Crimean war, 



THE STORY OF MANCHURIA. 373 

which terminated so disastrously for Russia. With the accession 
of Alexander H to the throne and the treaty of Paris, signed in 
1856, Russia found herself cut off from not only the anticipated 
fruits of the Turkish war that precipitated the French and English 
attack upon her, but from access to the sea. 

The blow seemed to awaken Russia to a new conception of expan- 
sion. A portion of Russian Bessarabia, taken from her at that time, 
was later secured to her again. Sebastopol, too, was rebuilt. In 
1 86 1 the emancipation of the serfs followed and the common people 
were freed from the abject bondage in which they were held. Exile 
did much to populate Siberia and a general movement of thought 
and interest eastward followed. Russia advanced into and pacified 
the Caucasus. The humiliating conditions of the treaty of Paris 
placed Russia in a cage. It had always been a great natural cage, 
but never so much as now. To the north the perpetual grip of 
winter held the White Bear from access to the sea. To the west 
the glistening bayonets -of France, Germany and England — in fact 
all v/estern Europe — operated toward that end. It was the same 
to the south, where the "sick man of Europe," formidable in him- 
self, still commanded the support of practically all Europe. 

MARCH OF THE GREAT WHITE BEAR TO THE WATER. 

To the east then Russia must of necessity look for her "open door." 
And to the east she turned her eyes. The savage and remorseless 
Asiatic tribes barred the way, but one by one they gave way to the 
slow and tortuous march of the Great White Bear to the water. 

In 1858 General Muravieff signed a treaty with the Chinese by 
which Russia acquired all the land to the left of the Amur river. 
Slowly but surely she crept down to the sea. 

The diplomatic corps of Russia is selected after a long and arduous 
apprenticeship, account being taken of each individual's peculiarities, 
abilities and temper. The heads of legations receive none but very 
general instructions; promotion depends upon individual success. 
This enables the foreign office, whenever serious danger threatens. 



374 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

to declare with perfect truth that "the minister has exceeded his in- 
structions." If, on the other hand, success crowns that official's efforts 
and no serious opposition offers another province is added to the 
Czar's domain. 

ANNEX AMUR PROVINCES. 

In illustration of this rule, the record of Russia's annexation of the 
Amur provinces may serve. This territory was secured by treaty, 
while the Chinese court at Pekin was trembling at the approach of 
the Anglo-French forces in 1858. In the follov.ing- year the British 
and French ministers were repulsed by the Taku forts when they 
attempted to proceed to Pekin by the Peiho. This temporary success 
emboldened the Chinese to denounce and refute the treaty with Rus- 
sia and General Ignatieff was sent to bring them to their senses. 
He and United States Minister McLane followed in the wake of 
the Anglo-French army, and entered Pekin after the allies had opened 
the gate. The Emperor Hsienfeng had fled, and it was left to Prince 
Kung to do the best he could for the dynasty. 

RUSSIA AS china's PROTECTOR. 

General Ignatieff now appeared as friend and protector. He rep- 
resented to the frightened prince that the western barbarians would 
surely remain masters of the middle kingdom unless some strong 
power interfered. Prince Kung could and did understand that. His 
own ancestors had taken possession of the empire after capturing 
the capital. He readily agreed to recompense Russia with the "value- 
less outlying territory," and by special treaty ceded to Russia some 
six hundred miles of coast line, including the maritime province and 
Vladivostok. Ignatieff fulfilled his obligations, and earned the warm 
gratitude of Lord Elgin, the British plenipotentiary, when he remind- 
ed that dignified diplomat that "the Peiho would soon freeze and 
serious difficulties might ensue unless the allies withdrew promptly." 
It was a year later when Prince Kung learned what his ignorance 
and inexperience had cost China. 



THE STORY OF MANCHURIA. 375 

It took several years for Russia to absorb and digest the territory 
acquired in 1858 and i860. The Mohammedan insurrection caused 
her to occupy Ih after notifying China that she would restore that 
territory when the middle kingdom was able to maintain law and 
order. In 1884 the rebellion was subdued and China demanded the 
promised evacuation, but Russia paid no attention. A special am- 
bassador was sent to St. Petersburg and Russia agreed to restore 
one-half of Hi under certain conditions. A treaty to that effect 
was signed, but the empress dowager peremptorily refused its rati- 
fication and Russia assumed a threatening attitude. War was averted 
through the efforts of the late Li Hung Chang, aided by Chinese 
Gordon, who proceeded to Tientsin at the viceroy's special request. 
Marquis Tseng was sent to St. Petersburg and a new treaty was 
signed whereby Russia retroceded more territory in return for an 
increased indemnity, special privileges and the right to navigate 
the rivers of Manchuria. 

From this time date Russia's aggressive designs upon the vast and 
immensely wealthy province that lay between her and the unfrozen 
sea. The development of the city of Vladivostok was the result. 
It was not much, but it was something in her quest for an ocean 
harbor. 

MANCHURIA, RUSSIANS LAND OF PROMISE. 

To the east of Russia promising the realization of her dreams lay 
Manchuria, just south of the frozen limits of Siberia. Across its 
forbidden expanse the winds conveyed to Slav ears the. rippling play 
of ocean surf. Was it surprising, then, that to secure Manchuria 
and its open coast Russia bent her utmost energies? Manifestly 
impossible of attainment through force of arms because of the atti- 
tude of the powers, particularly England and its ally, Japan, the prize 
might be secured by diplomacy. 

Centuries of battling against the conspiracies of man and nature 
in an effort to attain that end had trained the Russian and made 
him the most finished diplomat of the nineteenth and twentieth cen- 



376 



THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 



turies. Strong in the knowledge of that fact, the Russian directed 
diplomatic batteries upon Manchuria with a boldness that surprised 
the world, and with results already set forth. With that weapon 
alone Russia wrested from Japan the fruits of her victory over China, 
discomfited England and virtually secured permanent establishment 
in a dominion comprising an empire in itself. 

Soldier and tradesman, colonist and religionist, and greater than 
all, the railroad, followed, and IManchuria had begun to assume a 
Russian aspect indeed when Japan cried halt! 

japan/england^ or both? 

Was it Japan, or merely an echo of England's voice cast back 
from the Mikado's island domain? That is a question for sages to 
answer. 




Land Forces, Early in the War. 

Drawn by Cartoonis-t Maybell, of the Brooklyn Eagle. 




CHAPTER XXVIII. 
HOME OF THE MANCHU DYNASTY. 

The Golden Dynasty Overthrows the Iron — Manchuria's Vast Natural Wealth^ 
Senator Beveridge's Account of the Blagovestchensk Massacre — What of the 
Moscow of Asia? 

^ANCHU, or Manchuria, is not properly the name of the coun- 
tr}^, according to recognized authorities, but rather of the in- 
habitants. The name is modern, and how it came to be incor- 
porated into the geograph.y of our times is explained hereafter. 

Until the thirteenth century the Manchus were a nomadic people. 
Records concerning them exist covering a period more than i,ooo 
B. C. In early days they paid tribute to China. In the tenth century 
they invaded northern China and established the Iron dynasty there 
and two centuries later these invaders were overthrown by another 
Manchu invasion. 

THE GOLDEN DYNASTY OVERTHROWS THE IRON. 

The leader of the latter horde declared iron v/ould rust, but gold 
never. Therefore in contrast he named his dynasty Kin — golden, 
for gold never rusts. The Mongols under Jenghiz Khan in turn 
drove out the Manchus less than a century later. 

Through the birth of a leader, by reputed immaculate conception, 
came the name Manchu — "pure." This leader gathered together 
the various clans, in 1617, reorganized Manchuria and swept down 
upon China. To this day the occupant of the throne at Pekin is 



3/8 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

a Manchu. Manchuria itself retrograded into little more than a 
Chinese province with a population dying away before an influx of 
Chinese settlers when Russia's ambitions in that direction centered 
world-wide attention upon the isolated dominion. 

Manchuria's vast natural wealth. 
Manchuria produces a diversity of useful things and is believed 
to be very rich in gold, coal, iron, magnetic iron ore and precious 
stones, all of which are mined in a primitive way. Tigers are some- 
times found and panthers, bears, wild boars, wolves, foxes and hares 
are numerous. Eagles, doves and various birds abound. The most 
valuable of the feathered tribe is the Mongolian lark, exported largely 
because of iti natural ability to imitate. The fish wealth in the rivers 
is enormous. Cotton, pulse, millet, wheat, barley and tobacco grow 
luxuriantly, but the most valuable products of the soil in the eyes 
of the native are indigo and the poppy. 

SENATOR BEVERIDGE's ACCOUNT OF THE BLAGOVESTCHENSK MASSACRE. 

The opening up of Manchuria has as its most striking example 
of bloodshed the massacre at Blagovestchensk, in 1900, heralded to 
the w^orld as a frightful instance of Russian barbarism. The town 
is located on the Siberian side of the Amur river, far northwest of 
Vladivostok. Of this ghastly affair Senator Albert J. Beveridge. 
after investigations made on the spot, declares in substance: 

"First of all, Russian boats were fired on from the Chinese shores. 
The Chinese were observed to neglect their work and gather in groups. 
As the days passed they w'ere seen to be laboring under some unex- 
plained excitement. Then threats and hootings came from the other 
side. The great Boxer disturbance, involving many millions of 
the yellow men, had been preparing for months and was on the 
verge of being ignited. These Russians in Blagovestchensk were 
right up agciinst the fuse of this awful oriental bomb, whose explo- 
sion, when it came, reverberated around the world. 

"Then came the firing o-f artillery from the Chinese town across 
the river directly into the Russian city. This was accompanied by 



HOME OF THE MANCHU DYNASTY. 379 

the firing of musketry and with it wild demonstrations on the Chinese 
side. Then with the culmination of the fears of the people came 
reports that Chinese had landed both below and above the town. 
Fear rose to a panic. Was another Chinese butchery such as had 
more than once horrified the world to again occur in this unprotected 
spot with thousands of unprotected citizens and their families as the 
victims? If the Chinese in Blagovestchensk combined with those on 
the opposite shore, and a juncture was made with the Chinese forces 
reported to have been landed on the Russian side, the destruction 
of the little Russian city appeared to its citizens to be inevitable. The 
shops were closed, business suspended. Merchants, bankers, clerks, 
artisans formed a military company. Any kind of a weapon that 
would shoot any kind of a ball was utilized. The Chinese in the city 
itself were driven down to the river's edge below the town and forced 
into the river. Three or four thousand perished." 

After weeks of bombardment the Russian city was relieved by 
the arrival of reinforcements. Across the river swept the Russians 
and annihilated the Chinese town and its menacing leaders. 

Nearly 5,000 Chinamen perished in the terrible massacre at Blago- 
vestchensk. In the grim euphemism of one of the czar's generals, 
"They went away." But so indulgent were the authorities after 
the massacre that in a few months all the Chinese merchants who 
had fled from the town, never expecting to return, were back doing 
business at their old stands, and many more had flocked in to com- 
pete with them under the protection of the laws and paternal gov- 
ernment of the Russians. 

WHAT OF THE ''''mOSCOW OF ASIA" ? 

An important war brings into the view of the world many things 
besides fleets and armies. That is true now regarding localities, con- 
ditions and resources in Manchuria. 

For example, the announcement that Viceroy Alexieff had gone to 
Harbin, six hundred miles north and a little west of Port Arthur, 
and established his headc^iiarters there excited our interest in Harbin. 



38o THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

It is generally known that it is the junction of the railway lines run- 
ning to Vladivostok on the east and Port Arthur on the south. This 
fact discloses the strategic importance of the place. 

But what of Harbin itself? It is a city only three years old, yet 
is today the home of 60,000 Russians, not counting the troops of 
the Russian army. It has become a great center of commerce and 
trade for all that region. 

It was in Harbin more than in all the cities combined that Russia 
was asserting her intentions of becoming an active industrial force 
in the affairs of the orient when war was declared. Her people were 
already giving the place the title of the Moscow of Asia. 

The city is located on the Sungari river, at the point w^iere tlie 
Manchuria branch of the Siberian railway crosses the stream, and 
where the Chinese eastern branch starts south to Dalny and Port 
Arthur. It is about 350 miles vrest of Vladivostok and 600 miles 
north of Port Arthur. Its location is the geographical center of 
Manchuria, and it had every prospect of becoming the commer- 
cial center as well. The city is surrounded on all sides for hun- 
dreds of miles with rich and productive agricultural country, pro- 
ducing corn, wlieat, oats, barley, beans, millet, hemp, tobacco, vege- 
tables, and some fruits. Minerals and timber and great areas of 
grazing lands also surround it. 

At the outbreak of the war the place consisted of the old towns, 
three miles from the central depot; Prestin, or the river town, the 
commercial center, and the administration town, in close proximity 
to the railway station. Before the railway engineers established this 
as their headquarters there v/as no native town in this vicinity, and 
the entire place was therefore a Russian product. 

It was as distinctly a Russian city as though it were located in 
the heart of Russia, and n.one but Russians and Chinese v/ere per- 
mitted to own land, construct buildings, or engage in any permanent 
enterprise. The city had been created by the Russian government, 
under the management of the Manchurian Railway Company. The 



HOME OF THE MANCHU DYNASTY. 381 

land for many miles in each direction had been secured so as to make 
it impossible for any foreign influence to secure a profit or foothold 
close to the city, and foreigners were not recognized as having any 
rights whatever, but were permitted there on sufferance. 

In 1900 the place began to assume importance as a center of rail- 
way management, and in 1901 the population had grown to 12,000 
Russians; in 1902, 20,000; by May, 1903, 44,000, and in October, 
1903, a census showed a population of 60,000, exclusive of soldiers. 
Of these, 400 were Japanese and 300 of all other nationalities, includ- 
ing Germans, Austrians, Greeks and Turks. All the rest were Rus- 
sians. There were no Americans. 

The Sungari river was navigable with light-draught steamers and 
native craft for nearly 200 miles above the city, up both branches 
of the river, and much traffic had already developed on these streams, 
especially in wheat. 

From Harbin to the Amur river, during the navigation season, 
which begins in April and ends on November i, good-sized steamers 
can run daily. Harbin was started primarily as a military center 
and an administration town, for the government and direction of 
railv/ay affairs. Its growth into a splendid commercial and manu- 
facturing city was not originally provided for by the promoters, and 
it was somewhat of a surprise to them, but the fever of making it 
a great Russian commercial and manufacturing city finally took pos- 
session of the railway management, and every system of promotion 
and protection that could be devised to increase its growth along 
these lines was energetically encouraged. 

The capital for most of the private enterprises was furnished by 
Siberian Jews. Chinese furnished money for the construction of 
some of the finest private buildings, such as hotels, store rooms, etc. 
In the administration part of the city no private buildings of any 
kind were permitted. 

The administration received more than 2,000,000 rubles ($1,030,- 
000) for land sold to private parties. Many elegant residences and 



382 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

substantial structures were erected in the additions adjacent to the 
administration town. A hotel and theater combined was built at 
a cost of 60,000 rubles ($30,900) and rented for 25,000 rubles 
($12,875) per annum. 

The leading industry of Harbin was the manufacture of flour. 
At the outbreak of the war eight mills were in operation, all with 
modern European machinery with one exception, and that was a 
small one constructed with American machinery. Applications had 
been made and granted for the construction of two more large ones. 
They paid from 30 to 35 cents gold a bushel for their wheat delivered 
at the mills. The value of the flour mills as described was 1,200,000 
rubles ($618,000). 

In the immediate vicinity of Harbin were 200 brickmaking plants, 
the cost of which was 500,000 rubles ($257,500). Two of these 
plants were constructed by the administration, at a cost of 200,000 
rubles. Most of the brick produced were used in the construction 
of the city. A very good grade of red brick was produced and sold 
for 6.50 rubles ($3.35) per thousand. Most of the work was done 
by Chinese, who were paid 35 kopecks (10 cents) a day. 

There were several companies engaged in the meat packing busi- 
ness, with plants costing altogether 250,000 rubles ($128,750). They 
cured hams, bacon, and all varieties of smoked meats, and produced 
excellent articles. The hogs and cattle in this part of the country 
were grain-fed, and made splendid meats, and the Russians were 
experts in preparing it for market. 

There was on the river a small sawmill that cost 15,000 rubles 
($7,750), and two on the railway line between Harbin and Vladi- 
vostok that cost 150,000 rubles ($77,500). 

The adjacent country was productive in wheat, cattle, sheep, hogs, 
millet, barley, oats, corn, beans, furs, hides, wool, bristles, bean oil, 
bean cake, hemp, tobacco and timber, and had various undeveloped 
mineral resources; in fact, it possessed all the natural elements for 
the foundation of a great city. 




CHAPTER XXIX. 
HOW THE WAR NEWS REACHED AMERICA. 

A Journey of Fifteen Thousand Miles — Brave Little Spark Again Under Water — 
Cost of Getting the War News — The Russian Route — Japan and the Amer- 
ican Commercial Pacific Cable. 

'HE reader of the war news was aware that the telegraph sys- 
tems of the world combined to give him the information he 
sought. As a rule, however, he had little comprehension of 
the distances covered in his behalf by the electric current. The fol- 
lowing will therefore open his eyes. 

A JOURNEY OF FIFTEEN THOUSAND MILES. 

News of the Russo-Japanese war from day to day came to America 
after traversing 15,000 miles of cable and telegraph lines. From 
Nagasaki, Japan, the tiny electric impetus put in motion by the key 
of the operator instantly plunged under the East China sea, to land 
in China, near Shanghai, 476 miles away. Then that little throb 
worked southward round the China coast to Hongkong, 945 miles. 
At Hongkong (British) it dived under the China sea to Saigon, in 
Anam (French), 951 miles. From Saigon it crossed the bed of 
the sea to Singapore (British), 626 miles, or in some instances it went 
by way of Labuan, Borneo (British), 1,971 miles. 

Through the Malacca strait to Penang (398 miles) was the next 
step, and then a great plunge westward through the wild Nicobars 
and under the tropical Bengal sea (1,389 miles) to Madras. At 
Madras it was transmitted by land to Bombay. 



384 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

Never resting, the brave little spark took to the water again, travers- 
ing the broad Arabian sea to Aden (1,850 miles), threading its way 
up the scorching Red sea, flying ever westward, to Alexandria (1,534 
miles). And from Alexandria deep under the balmy IMediterranean 
to Malta, out to Lisbon, and so to London (3,205 miles), and thence 
across the Atlantic. 

COST OF GETTING THE WAR NEWS. 

Every word forced so laboriously through those 15,000 miles of 
solid wire cost 65 cents. This is the newly reduced rate for press 
messages, at which many thousands of words v;ere sent. For pri- 
vate messages the rate is three times larger. 

All the telegraph lines in Japan were owned by the Japanese gov- 
ernment and censorship of messages was therefore easy. 

THE RUSSIAN ROUTE. 

At Nagasaki, the "taking-ofil;" point for the mainland, messages 
are ordinarily transferred from the Japanese government lines to 
the Great Northern Company (Danish) and cross either to Shanghai 
or Vladivostok, naturally the former during the war. From Vladi- 
vostok the Northern company's line follows the railway track across 
frozen Siberia to Libau, on the Baltic. Only a few of the American 
press messages took that course, although it was the route by which 
Russia's vast volume of official communications were transmitted, 
and continental Europe kept in touch with the field of operations. 
Practically the same route was used most of its length by the Russian 
government to keep in touch with Port Arthur. 

CABLE OF THE EASTERN EXTENSION COMPANY. 

At Shanghai, China, directly connected by cable with Nagasaki, 
Japan, begins the cable of the Eastern Extension Company and the 
eastern cable takes up the thread at Bombay. From Bombay, also, 
the Indo-European line starts away and travels overland by Bushire 
and Teheran, Tiflis, Odessa and Warsaw to Berlin, and so to Eng- 
land. 




JAP PERFORMER — "THIS IS MY GREAT CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE." 

Drawn by J. H. Donahey, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer 

This was Japan's position preceding hostilities. She was juggling Russia, while the latter, at the 
same time, was tossing around war, peace and a mutual understanding in such a perplexing 
way that no one could tell which was which. 




THE BEAR— "THIS WATCHING TWO HOLES AT ONCE JUST DRIVES ME WILD." 

Drawn by Cartoonist Rehse, of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. 

Before the outbreak of the Japanese-Russian war the British had already started their military 

expeditionintoTlbet. Watching the British in Tibet and the Japs in Korea 

and Manchuria, made of the Great Bear a really lively beast. 




ALL — "THESE ARE PIPING TIMES!" 

Drawn by Cartoonist Maybell, of the Brooklyn Eagle. 

The war correspondents and military experts are having a glorious season in these piping times 
of war. They are simply intoxicated with tha brilliancy of their own prophecies. 







FARMER JAPAN--" COME DOWN OUT OF THAT TREE ! THOSE APPLES BELONG TO ME !" 

Drav>"u by R. D. Handy, of the Duluth News-Tribune. 

Russia's astonishment is not feigned, for ho was not really aware (with Manchuria in one hand 

and his grasp upon Korea) that he was in a forbidden tree until 

Japan actually went gunning after him. 







THE BEAR — "I'VE STRUCK A HORNET'S NEST NOW, SURE!" 

[Drawn by R. D. Handy, of the Duluth News-Tribune, 

The cartoon is particularly pat because of the great reliance which Japan placed upon her tor 
pedo flotillas, boats of that type being called the hornets of the navy. Her mili- 
tary tactics, by sea and land, were of the swift and stinging order. 




2. o 



> ° 









HOW THE WAR NEWS REACHED AMERICA. 401 

The American Commercial Pacific cable goes to the Philippines 
and does not touch Japan. The desire of Japan to bring about a 
connection with the American cable at Guam, which raised serious 
questions on the neutralit}'- of the United States, grew out of the 
fear of Japan that Russia might cut her cable connections with 
Shanghai, and in consequence with the whole world — for cables are 
not considered merely from the standpoint of news transmission but 
form an important element in military action and" the conduct of 
a war. 




Uncle Sam will not have the door closed. 




KEEPER OF THE SCALES (JUST BEFORE THE WAR) — " I WONDER WHICH WAY THE 

SCALES WILL TIP." 

Russia aud Japan, each with glaring eyes and gigantic sword, are both politely protesting against 

their warlike intentions. 



CHAPTER XXX. 
CHINA, ANTIQUITY^S MYSTIC LAND, 

Were the Chinese From the Caspian Sea Region? — Fiery Dogs and Ungovernable 
Vermin— Fabulous Millions of Years — China in the Time of Christ— Jenghiz 
Khan Wipes Out the Golden Dynasty — Early Warfare with Japan Over Korea 
—War Horrors of Flood and Cannibalism. 

1 AR reaching into the past though history carries us, yet it utterly 
fails to afford any accurate or trustworthy account of the origin 
of the Chinese race. We are famihar with the Chinese since 
before 2,000 B. C. The earhest records extant picture them as wan- 
dering hordes in the forests of Shan-se, without houses, clothing or 
knowledge of the use of fire. 

WERE THE CHINESE FROM THE CASPIAN SEA REGION? 

Some writers attribute the birthplace of the Chinese to the region 
southeast of the Caspian sea. However that may be, it is a known 
certainty that these nomads followed the course of the Yellow river 
and first established themselves in the fertile plains of the modern 
province of Shan-se. 

In their earliest records their governors are referred to as "pastors" 
and "herdsmen." An agricultural instinct soon developed and the 
Chinese early cultivated grains, grew flax for clothing and trained 
the silkworm to their purposes. 

FIERY DOGS AND UNGOVERNABLE VERMIN. 

The aborigines displaced by the Chinese are described by them 
in their early writings as "fiery dogs of the North, great bowmen 

403 



404 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

of the East, mounted warriors of the West and ungovernable vermin 
of the South." 

FABULOUS MILLIONS OF YEARS. 

Chinese writings deal with a fabulous period of 2,267,000 years, 
between the time when ''heaven and earth united to produce man" 
and the time of Confucius. In the year 2,356 B. C. the real, authen- 
ticated history of China begins, being given us principally through 
the writings of Confucius. Prior to that period the plow had been 
invented and the use of fire made possible through the discovery it 
could be produced by friction. The Chow dynasty, the first of which 
there is any extensive record, came to a close 255 B. C. Che 
Hwang-te, the first "universal" ruler of China, came to the throne 
246 B. C. It was he who first gave to the country good roads, grand 
canals and palatial public buildings, drove back the gathering hordes 
about the limits of his empire, destroyed the feudal princes and recon- 
structed the great empire upon the monarchial principle. Tie, too, 
laid the early foundations for the great wall that stands today a 
monument to China's ancient greatness. 

CHINA IN THE TIME OF CHRIST. 

During the days of Christ a notable rebel, Wang Mang, held the 
throne until slain by his own soldiers. Early in the Christian era 
three adventurers seized the throne and divided the empire; hence 
the frequent reference to China as the "Three Kingdoms." For 200 
years, closing about 590 A. D., disorder was rampant and all sem- 
blance of authority ceased until the establishment of the Suy dynasty, 
At that time Korea sought to throw off Chinese authority and was 
severely punished in consequence. So great was the fame and power 
of China that in the seventh century ambassadors from Rome and 
Persia came to pay court to its rulers . A Nestorian priest, 0-l«-peen, 
from Rome, so impressed the emperor that a church was built for him; 

AN EARLY CHINESE QUEEN. 

Through that influence the history of China experienced a sudden 



CHINA, ANTIQUITY'S MYSTIC LAND. 405 

shock when in 650 A. D. Woo How seized the reins of government. 
Thus a woman became ruler of a land where women were regarded 
as little else than slaves. She made an excellent ruler, but her suc- 
cessors were weak and a monotonous record of feeble administrations, 
vicious intrigues, oppression and rebellions followed. During this 
period China often had the Arabs as allies in warfare. In 907 the 
Tang dynasty, "the golden age of Chinese literature," came to an 
end. 

JENGHIZ KHAN WIPES OUT THE GOLDEN DYNASTY. 

The beginning of the twelfth century found the Mongol strength 
growing and in 12 13 Jenghiz Khan swept over the north, carrying 
destruction in his path to over ninety cities, and seized the greater 
part of the empire. To his sons fell the task of carrying on the 
war. Indescribable slaughter ensued, resulting in driving the last 
of the "Golden" dynasty to suicide in his palace, which he burned 
over his head to save his body from the enemy. The reign of the 
Manchu was at hand. 

THE GREAT KHAN^S ILLUSTRIOUS REIGN. 

In 1259 Kublai ascended the throne as the grandest monarch of 
Asia. iWith.the exception of Hindustan, Arabia and the western 
fringe of Asia all the Mongol princes declared themselves vassals 
of the "Great Khan." It v/as during that illustrious reign that Marco 
Polo visited China. Despite his magnificence, discretion and munifi- 
cence, Kublai was regarded by the people as a barbarian alien and 
he died unwept in 1294. After a long series of family reverses the 
dynasty gave way to the son of a Chinese laborer in 1368. 

THE MING DYNASTY. 

The latter, Choo Yuen-chang, subdued the Mongols, extended and 
reorganized China, re-estahlished Buddhism as the recognized religion 
and became the founder of the Ming dynasty. Disorder and war 
again had their long inning. During the ten years elapsing between 



4o6 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

1 426- 1 436 Cochin-China rebelled and became independent. Civil 
war and invasion tore the land. 

EARLY WARFARE WITH JAPAN OVER KOREA. 

In 1542 came a Tartar invasion and a little later the Japanese 
tarried destruction by fire and sword through the littoral provinces. 
Until 1597 the Japs and Chinese fought almost incessantly over 
Korea, which finally fell under Chinese direction after great sacrifice 
of life. 

WAR HORRORS OF FLOOD AND CANNIBALISM. 

In 1 6 16 the last great Manchu move on China set in. From 
tribute payers they evolved into conquerors — not, however, until the 
horrors of war made the sale of human fiesh a common sight in the 
, market places of scores of famine-stricken, besieged cities. It was 
during this period that "China's sorrow," the Yellow river, was made 
to flood the country as a war measure, costing 200,000 lives in 
Kaiping Foo alone. 

FINAL ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MANCHU DYNASTY. 

The Manchu dynasty was again established — this time permanently 
— in 1644. Oppressed became oppressor, and to this day a Manchu 
occupies the throne. The shaved head and the queue, evidences of 
submission to Tartar sovereignty, followed. 

A German Jesuit exercised great influence at Pekin as early as 
1656, although, as has been shown, Christianity was carried to the 
Chinese centuries before. At that time (1656) the first Russian 
embassy was presented. Refusal of the envoy to kow-tow before 
the emperor resulted in his exclusion. Kang-he, who ascended the 
throne in 1661, proved an able and scholarly ruler. He was largely 
under the Jesuit influence. Under liis rule Tibet was added to the 
Chinese empire in 1720 through a great victory over the Eleuts. 

THE CZAR OF MUSCOVY AT PEKIN. 

"In November of the same year," quaintly adds an old writer, "the 



THE STORY OF MODERN CHINA. 



407 



czar of Muscovy made his public entry into Pekin, with a numerous 
and splendid train, habited after the European manner." 

This odd passage, which in itself throws no small amount of light 
on Russian methods of dealing with oriental peoples, refers to the 
unsuccessful mission of a Russian commercial agent seeking the 
adoption of measures for the establishment of free commerce. 

The story of ancient China may be said to close with the great 
earthquake of 1731, the most disastrous disturbance of nature recorded 
in Chinese history. 

In and near Pekin alone 400,000 souls perished and throughout the 
land multitudes were swallowed up. 




JAP— "Now for a Jiu-jitsu trick." 




/\^.A, 



*i)*«r 



SECRETARY HAY— "I WILL CONFINE THE FIRE TO THE PAGODA, IF I CAN.' 

Drawn by Cartoonist Maybell, of the Brooklyn Eagle. 

Secretary Hay is doing all he can, by plowing deeply around China, to keep the fire within bound, 
It is good for outsiders, but poor John Chinaman is caught In the flre-trap. 




CHAPTER XXXL 
THE STORY OF MODERN CHINA. 

Dark War Cloud Gathers — Enter England and America — Side Lights on the Opium 
Traffic — The Chinese Worm Turns— Reign of Slaughter Continues — Peace at 
Last— More Strife and Bloodshed— England Again Makes War- The Historic 
Gordon on the Scene. 

IVALED only in its bloody record by the narrative of its past, 
modern China may be regarded as dating from the accession 
of Kien-long, or Kien Lung, to the throne in 1736. He 
extended the Chinese dominions and unsuccessfully invaded Burma 
and Cochin-China. Eastern Turkestan v^^as added to the empire 
under his rule. 

Cruelty characterized his reign and after the Mohammedan stand- 
and was raised at Kansuh 10,000 Mussulmans were exiled, and of 
what remained all over fifteen years old were put to the sword in 1784. 
Because of unsatisfactory relations between China and the British 
East India Company George HI sent the famous embassy headed by 
Lord Macartney to the Chinese court. Although the embassy was 
regally received its commercial aims were not attained. The expe- 
riences and observations of its members were presented to the world 
and served to throw light upon the then great half -civilized power. 
China continued in strife, internal and external, until 1795, when 
Kien Long abdicated in favor of his fifteenth son, Kra-King. 

DARK WAR CLOUD GATHERS. 

Pirates operating along the entire Chinese coast and the clamor 

409 



410 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

of foreign merchants, established in Canton, disturbed his reign. 
The former were finally disbanded. The latter were sounding the 
warning for new troubles for China, the like of which it had not 
experienced. In 1816 another English embassy, under Lord Am- 
herst, sailed up the Peiho to impress the Chinese government. Like 
its predecessors, it accomplished little. 

ENTER ENGLAND AND AMERICA. 

Taow-Kwang ascended the throne in 1821, having been selected 
in consequence of liaving saved his father's life in an insurrection 
that occurred in 181 3. He is the first Chinese ruler whose name is 
connected with English and American history. Insurrection and 
rebellion characterized the opening years of his reign, fostered by the 
"Triad society" — probably tlie "Boxers" of those days. But a war 
was at hand with an external enemy far more formidable — an enemy 
whose tactics and equipment were to prove sources of astonishment 
and humiliation to Cliina far beyond the capability of her ablest men 
to anticipate. 

SIDE LIGHTS ON THE OPIUM TRAFFIC. 

Commercial intercourse v.'ith England was entirely in the hands 
of the British East India Company until 1834, when its monopoly 
expired. All British subjects were then at liberty to send ships to 
Canton to trade. There was strong temptation to deal in opium, 
which, while prohibited from importation by imperial Chinese edict, 
was eagerly purchased by the natives when offered. Enormous quan- 
tities were smuggled into China in a systematic manner by the East 
India Company, which found the trade in the hands of the Por- 
tuguese when it appeared in the field. Bribery and system enabled 
the company to accomplish without any great friction what caused 
scandal when attempted by hordes of free-booters that followed in 
its vrake. These enterprising tradesmen were so bitter in complain- 
ing of the treatment accorded them by the Chinese that an English 
government official was sent to act as commercial superintendent 



THE STORY OF MODERN CHINA. 411 

at Canton, where favored nations were allowed to trade and conduct 
factories and warehouses outside the city walls. 

THE CHINESE WORM TURNS. 

Finally a desperate situation developed, the Chinese seizing and 
destroying all the opium unlawfully smuggled into port, 20,283 
chests, which was surrendered by the English through fear of death 
on April 3, 1839. The honesty of purpose governing the Chinese 
is attested by the fact that the drug was publicly destroyed by quick 
lime. England, threatened with the loss of a market for India's 
opium, made the circumstance the ground for a declaration of war, 
and in 1840 began the struggle which at the point of the bayonet 
guaranteed the spread of the loathsome habit with its terrible con- 
sequences. The British captured Chusan and destroyed the Bogue 
forts, with great slaughter, compelled the permanent gift of Hong 
Kong as a British possession and agreed upon peace if paid an in- 
demnity of $6,000,000. The Chinese emperor, who could not under- 
stand the odds against which his troops and junks contended, dis- 
missed and degraded the commissioner who brought him the pro- 
posal and ordered the war to proceed." 

REIGN OF SLAUGHTER CONTINUES. 

Canton, Amoy, Ningpo, Tinghai, Chafoo, Shanghai and Chin 
Keang Foo were next taken, some without resistance, others with 
loss of life which is fearful to contemplate. Utter unpreparedness 
and the absence of adequate war equipm.ent were not the only handi- 
caps the Chinese suffered, for they were without leadership because 
of the inability of the emperor to realize the new weapons and con- 
ditions favoring the enemy. Therefore he was kept in the dark con- 
cerning developments and a halting, disorganized campaign of de- 
fense was conducted — in reality merely a fight for time to devise 
some saving expedient. 

Finally, when before Nankin, the British were stopped by serious 



412 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

peace proposals and the war ended on Aug. 29, 1842, through a 
treaty giving England $21,000,000 indemnity, ceding Hong Kong 
to the British crown and opening five treaty ports with British consuls 
and British regulation of tariffs. 

Shortly after those events — in 1845 — the United States established 
peaceful commercial relations with China. The emperor died, with 
the country involved in rebellion, in 1850. 

MORE STRIFE AND BLOODSHED. 

^ His son and successor, Heen-fung, contended with not only the 
indescribable confusion that prevailed preceding his father's death, 
but v/ith a rebel leader who developed great strength and ability for 
organization, and after many victories set himself up at Nankin as 
Teen Wang, "Heavenly King," and inaugurator of the Tai Ping 
dynasty. For a time indications pointed to permanent success for 
Teen Wang. The government's troubles with Europe made his suc- 
cesses possible, and just as surely brought the agency for his undoing. 

ENGLAND AGAIN MAKES WAR. 

England again declared war against the Tartar dynasty in 1857, 
in consequence of the "Arrow" aflfair. Canton was seized by the 
English and Lord Elgin subdued tlie Taku forts and started up the 
Peiho to proceed to the capital. He was met by a peace commis- 
sion, en route, and arranged a treaty to be ratified at Pekin the fol- 
lowing year. When an attempt Vv^as made to pass the Taku forts for 
that purpose they resisted. French and English allies attacked and 
silenced the forts, moved to Pekin and held the An-ting gate at the 
capital until a treaty of peace was ratified entailing a war indemnity 
of 8,000,000 taels, Oct. 24, i860. 

THE HISTORIC GORDON ON THE SCENE. 

Heen-Fung died shortly after, was succeeded by a child, and Major 
Gordon of the English Royal Engineers took charge of the reorgani- 
zation of the army for the government. He soon brought it into 



CHINA, ANTIQUITY'S MYSTIC LAND. 



413 



shape to successfully proceed against Teen Wang and his Tai-pings, 
who were exterminated, 

In 1873 Tung Che, the child ruler, succeeded to active government 
in place of a regency, only to die two years later without issue and 
guiltless of any important public action. His successor was Kwang- 
seu, the present emperor, then only four years old, a cousin of Tung- 
Che. With the advent of this princeling to the dynastic succession 
came the regency that seems to have secured a firm and permanent 
hold on the reins of governm.ent and vv^hich has had as the most 
striking features of its past the Japanese v/ar and the "Boxer" upris- 
ing to contend with. 




CZAR— "The yellow-kid must go." 




THE MIKADO — "DON'T PUSH. GIVE ME ROOM." 

Drawn by Cartoonist Maybell, of the Brooklyn Eagle. 

It is claimed that the emperor of Japan was pushed into his fight with Russia by the clamors of 

the war party. The same claim was made for the czar. Doubtless 

l)oth claims were correct to a certain extent. 




CHAPTER XXXIL 
THE PERPLEXING WAR OF J 894-^95. 

The Chinese Puzzle Fairly Before the World— China's Real Weakness Exposed — 
Like a Comic Opera Plot — Fellow Conspirator Escapes Death — International 
Muddle Begins — Korean Army Takes to the "Woods — China Prepares t9 
Root Out the "Wojen"— The Japs Swarm Over the Great Chinese Guns. 

AR between China and Japan, a decade prior to the Jap- 
anese-Russian conflict, forms the connecting Hnk between 
past and present. That struggle grew out of ancient causes 
and conditions. Out of its consequences developed the struggle be- 
tween Jap and Russ in 1904. 

THE CHINESE PUZZLE FAIRLY BEFORE THE WORLD, 

Until the sanguinary test of strength between the two yellow neigh- 
bors China was more or less of a puzzle to the nations. Like a 
lumbering old superannuated St. Bernard in a kennel she lay, serenely 
ignoring the jealous powers sneakingly snatching at concessions and 
her outlying possessions. Gigantic in proportions, indications sug- 
gested that it might be dangerous to arouse the ungainly old sleeper. 
Sharp teeth and powerful claws might underlie that benign aspect 
of stupendous stupidity. None of the European powers cared to 
incur the risk of stirring up the teeming millions of China, who might 
prove fighters despite the pacific routine of their lives. 

china's REAL WEAKNESS EXPOSED. 

Japan proved the little terrier that was to stir up the slumbering 

415 



4i6 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

St. Bernard, tear off the yellow dragon's mask and reveal tottering, 
decadent China in her true light — the cripple of nations. This work 
accomplished, it is an oft-told story how the powers stripped Japan 
of the most coveted spoils of the conflict, and how with the instinct 
of primitive creatures they have harried the cripple for all she had 
to give and took through coercion what she refused. It is an old 
story how often and how directly the United States opposed the 
forcible disintegration of China and prevented annihilation of the 
St. Bernard and the picking of the giant's bones. Readers of this 
work are already familiar with the relation of the Chinese- Japanese 
war to the Japo-Russian conflict through Russian possession of Port 
Arthur, so with this slight digression we will return to the war of 
i894-'95 and its causes. 

LIKE A COMIC OPERA PLOT. 

For many years Korea had acknowledged Chinese suzerainty; in 
the seventeenth century renewed conditions of vassalage were accepted, 
and in the trade regulations of 1882 Korea definitely recognized 
China's suzerainty. The time-honored traditional assassination, so 
essential to all stories of the orient, figures as the crucial fact from 
which developed the Chinese- Japanese war over Korea. 

In 1884 Kim-ok-Kiun, Korean minister to Japan, attempted to 
make himself dictator of Korea. Japanese sympathy and support 
were enlisted in his rebellion. When it failed he fled to Japan and 
was warmly received — in fact, protected as a government protege. 
Nine years later, in March, 1893, he was lured to China, where at. 
Shanghai he was assassinated by order of the Korean king. This 
angered the Japanese, but not nearly so much as what followed at 
Tokyo, where the next act of this tragic although opera bouffe variety 
of statesmanship took place. 

FELLOW CONSPIRATOR ESCAPES DEATH. 

Kim-ok-Kiun had a fellow conspirator at Tokyo, Baku Eiko by 
name. Baku was too well versed in the ways of the East to be 



THE PERPLEXING WAR OF i894-'95. 417 

induced to visit the land of his offenses. So the Korean avengers 
sought him in the Japanese capital. Two brothers by the name of 
Ken attempted the assassination, failed and took refuge in the resi- 
dence of Mr. Yu, Korean charge d'affaires at Tokyo. For three 
days Yu refused to give them up to the Japanese authorities sur- 
rounding his official residence. When he surrendered them at last 
it was to fly from Japan himself, without awaiting the formalities 
customarily surrounding the departure of one of his station. 

Diplomatic conflict between Japan and Korea followed and the 
latter was called upon to satisfactorily answer two questions under 
pain of unpleasant consequences. These questions were: 

(i) Why did the Korean charge d'affaires depart from Tokyo 
after the attempted assassination without notifying the Japanese gov- 
ernment of his intention — was it to avoid being implicated in awk- 
ward revelations when the Ken brothers were examined? 

(2) Did the Korean king instruct any of his subjects^ or know 
they were instructed, to kill a Korean living under Japanese pro- 
tection ? 

INTERNATIONAL MUDDLE BEGINS. 

While these diplomatic exchanges were passing a rebellion devel- 
oped in Korea, directed against official extortion. On May 23, 1894, 
the Chinese officials at the Korean capital, numbering about forty, 
were murdered. A few days later a Chinese expedition, summoned 
by the Korean king, reached the storm center to subdue the rebels. 
Meanwhile Korea's reply to Japan's demands evidently proved unsat- 
isfactory, for on June 22 a strong Japanese force occupied the coun- 
try. The Japs landed at Ninson and seized Seoul and Chemulpo. 

KOREAN ARMY TAKES TO THE WOODS. 

Twenty battalions of Chinese were ordered to Korea on July i 
to repel the invaders. On the following day the royal Korean army 
was routed by the Japanese troops and literally "took to the woods," 
utterly demoralized. 



4i8 THE GRE.VT WAR IN THE EAST. 

^Minister Otori, Japan's representative, tlicn presented a plan for 
the reformation of Korea and to harmonize the interests of China, 
Japan and Korea. He proposed new laws, railroad construction, de- 
. velopment of the country's resources, a reorganized army, modern 
educational institutions, the removal of "personages of too great influ- 
ence" and of all foreign advisers from Korea. China refused to 
join in any proposal so long as Japanese troops remained in Korea. 
Otori then announced that Japan would alone unite with Korea in 
i;ringing about the reforms. On July 23 he was fired on by Korean 
soldiers acting under orders of the dominant party in Korea. The 
following day the Korean king contributed further to the comic- 
opera complication by declaring independence of China. 

JAPAN STRIKES UNEXPECTED BLOW\ 

Korean soldiers attacked th.e Japanese garrison at Seoul on July 
24 and were repulsed. Meanwhile Japan had sunk the Kow-Shung, 
a Chinese transport, crowded with troops. The Toonan met the 
.'•ame fate, the king of Korea had been taken prisoner and tlie Chinese 
v.'arships Taso-Klian and Ch.en-Yuen, v\'ith two cruisers, were cap- 
tured or sent to the bottom by Japanese torpedo boats. After these 
I'cvelopments Japan formally declared war against China on Aug. i, 
' l-arging bad faith and false pretense against China. China promptly 
• •■•.;:!ned the arbitrament of war in a declaration of hostilities, accus- 
!.;;'/■ Japan of having acted the bully with Korea and of treachery and 
violation of all international law in the destruction of unprepared 
Cliinese warships and transports in the absence of hostile declara- 
tions. 

CHINA PREPARES TO ROOT OUT THE "WOJEN." 

All loyal Chinese were warned against the "wojen" (pygmies or 
vermin) and orders were given the "various armies to hasten with 
all speed to root the Svojen' out of their lairs." 

The belligerent activity of Japan preceding the declaration of war 
necessitated apology to England for the destruction of the British 



THE PERPLEXING WAR OF 1894-95. 419 

ship Kow-Shung, sunk with 1,000 souls while being used as a Chi- 
nese transport. Warlike activity increased after the formal declara- 
tion and an offensive treaty with Korea hastily followed, terminable 
at the close of the campaign. Japan's torpedo boats had meanwhile 
followed up their wonderful first thrusts and spread terror among the 
Chinese. 

In the destruction of the Kow-Shung and its human freight Japan 
compelled China to abandon Asan, which carried the war to the north 
of Korea. Hwang-Ju and Ping Yang fell before Japanese assaults, 
2,000 Chinese being killed .and 21,000 taken prisoners in the two 
battles. Japan thus obtained control of Korea. 

GREAT PECIIILI NAVAL BATTLE. 

Six hours' incessant battle between twelve Chinese ironclads and 
eleven Japanese warships and the attendant torpedo boats of each 
fleet followed on Sept. 17 and afforded the world the first real test 
of modern steel men-of-war in action under fire. This famous and 
desperate battle took place in the gulf of Pechili and was bitterly 
contested. Without the loss of a ship the Japs destroyed seven of 
the Chinese fleet and forced the others to seek refuge at Port Arthur. 
This exhibition of Japanese ability in handling ships and guns proved 
a revelation to naval and military experts the world over and aft'orded 
the first opportunity to gauge the aptitude of the Japanese in adopting 
modern methods of warfare. ^ 

JAPANESE MOVE ON PORT ARTHUR. 

This victory enabled Japan to begin operations at the Yalu river, 
destined to be the scene of later warfare with the Russians. Up into 
Manchuria they worked their way and took Mukden and siege was 
laid to Port Arthur. On Nov. 18 the Japanese mo^iement down the 
peninsula was temporarily frustrated. Later, upon routing the 2,000 
Chinese who opposed them, the Japs found the wounded they had 
previously had to abandon horribly mutilated with hands and feet 
cut off. On the 20th the Japs were v/ithin four miles of the Chinese 



420 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

stronghold and were attacked by the Chinese in force. The Chinese 
were defeated after a desperate encounter, extending over five hours. 

THE JAPS SWARM OVER THE BIG CHINESE GUNS. 

Port Arthur fell the following day with its nine sea forts and 
eleven land forts. At 6 o'clock in the morning the Japanese fleet 
made a demonstration against the Chinese forts and warships. Half 
an hour later the Japanese artillery opened fire from positions taken 
up during the night. At 8 o'clock the first of the land forts to fall 
were taken by assault. By i o'clock the last of the forts had fallen 
before terrific infantry assaults. In the face of the Chinese fire the 
Japs simply swarmed over the great guns. The sea forts gave up 
without a fight. 

Then the victorious Japs advanced upon the city, where the resi- 
dents, armed with rifles and explosive bullets, gave battle. From 
house to house the struggle waged until darkness ended the battle. 

THE LOSS OF LIFE AT PORT ARTHUR. 

About 18,000 men were engaged on each side in the action at 
Port Arthur. The Japs emerged with 250 dead. The Chinese dead 
numbered 1,500. 

That great action was the beginning of the end. American diplo- 
mats played no small part in the preliminary arrangements for 
peace. The final conclusion, however, was in reality largely a matter 
of European diplomacy. Japan's original peace terms included an 
indemnity of 400,000,000 yen in installments, with the cession to her 
of the Chinese territory she then occupied. How European diplo- 
macy prevented the realization of that dream is a familiar story to 
those who have read the chapter devoted to the cause of the Japanese- 
Russian war. 



CHAPTER XXXIIL 
THE BOXER UPRISING. 

How the Eyes of the Nations Were Opened — Critics of the Bible and Western 
"Civilization" — "Squeak of the Celestial Pig" — Ancestral Worship a Con- 
tributing Cause — Missionaries Charged With Bewitching Children— United 
States Saves China — Chinese View of Foreign Invasion. 

NO circumstance of modern times has tended to bring us face 
to face with the strange contrasts between Occidental and 
Oriental civilization so forcibly as the Chinese Boxer uprising 
of 1900. The physical protest of uncounted thousands of yellow 
men against the "foreign devils" swarming into their land proved a 
revelation to the world. Rather, it was a series of revelations. 

HOW THE EYES OF THE NATIONS WERE OPENED. 



Primarily it opened the eyes of the nations to the almost unalterable 
hatred lurking beneath the calm, bland smile of the native Chinaman. 
Secondarily, it afforded a marvelous opportunity for the Japanese 
to demonstrate the advancement a brief period of intercourse with 
western nations had wrought for them. Both conditions were fully 
attested before the armies of the nations of the world, called thither 
by the disorde'r, departed for their native shores. 

It required the armies of all the powers to suppress the riotous, 

maddened Boxer — affording the only example in history when the 

armies of the world's leading nations stood shoulder to shoulder in a 

common cause. 

421 



422 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

The origin of the term "Boxer," or "Spirit Boxer," is found in 
the gymnastic exercises that constituted the drill of tlie members 
and in their mysterious incantations. "Ta Tao liui" — "Great Sword 
Society" — is one of the official titles recognized by the leaders. It is 
one of numerous secret organizations of China having political and 
religious significance and undoubted ancient origin. Whatever its 
original pet aversions, which probably included the Manchu dynasty, 
its interest suddenly centered upon foreigners and their religion. 
Throughout the late 8o's the feeling of liatred grew until it finally 
developed into contempt — a most dangerous sentiment among such a 
people. Its denouement came in the whirlwind of terror, murder and 
pillage that shocked the entire world in 1900. 

CRITICS OF THE BIBLE AND WESTERN "CIVILIZATION." 

Slanders directed against the missionary and the religion he 
brought proved the most potent influences in precipitating the reign 
of terror. Educated Chinese are keen critics of the Christian Bible. 
As a rule, they confess the beauty of its precepts, but cannot recog- 
nize in them any superiority to the moral teachings of Confucius. The 
miracles recited are immediately compared with their own fabulous 
legends. The Biblical story of how Joshua compelled the sun to 
stand still does not impress them nearly so much as their own legend 
of the moon having been eaten by a dragon. The missionaries rather 
than their teachings shocked the Chinese mind. Chinese ideas of 
propriety are the most straight-laced in the world. Missionaries, 
despite conscientious effort, have not been able to live up to them. 
This is particularly true of the women, whose western freedom of 
action was and is regarded by the Chinese as scandalous in the ex- 
treme. 

It was not unnatural, therefore, in the Oriental mind to regard 
the white man and his wife as unmentionable barbarians and their 
religion as a "wave of darkness." Unfortunately, the white man is 
not free from faults and vices. Sailors, marines, legation guards, 
diplomatic attaches and adventurous traders — the white characters 



THE BOXER UPRISING. 423 

most familiar to the Chinese — do not always represent all that is 
gentlest, most honorable, moral or best in Occidental society. The 
contrast afforded by this element to the teachings of the missionary 
was hardly calculated to increase Chinese respect for the white man 
or his religious message. 

AN ANALOGOUS ILLUSTRATION. 

The spirit aroused by the efforts of teacher and medical mis- 
sionary was something akin to the protest that would follow the ad- 
vent of a company of respectable Chinese laundrymen in any first- 
class Aniierican commAinity with the avov/ed purpose of establishing 
an orphanage and temple to be filled by adopting American children 
and proselytizing among American homes. 

In addition to this quite natural resentment, slanders of the most 
vicious kind found circulation among the ignorant and superstitious. 
In China, thirty-one portions of the human anatomy are regarded as 
possessing extremely valuable medicinal properties. It required no 
great stretch of the Chinese imagination to picture the hated bar- 
barians killing Chinese children to secure the medical treasures. 

'''squeak of the celestial pig." 

As a means of expressing the name of God, the early Catholics in 
China adopted the words, "Tien Chu," signifying "Lord of Heaven." 
"Kau" signifies religion, and Christianity was commonly referred to. 
as "Tien chu kau." Unfortunately, there is a Chinese word re- 
sembling "chu," which means "pig" ; "kiau" means "squeak," and 
the subtle Chinese promptly translated "Tien chu kau" as "Squeak 
of the Celestial Pig," a term seized upon by the ignorant millions 
with great satisfaction. 

Greater than all else in establishing the native suspicion, hatred 
and scorn towards Christianity and its converts is the western disap- 
proval of ancestor worship. An educated Chinaman will laugh at 
Buddhism or Taoism, but the reverence for ancestors imparted by 
Confucianism is the profound passion of his life. 



424 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

It is a moot question whether the practices of ancestor reverence 
are idolatrous or merely reverential, religious or social. Early in the 
effort to Christianize China the Pope pronounced against the prac- 
tices. The same stand was taken by the Protestant churches. Conse- 
quently the subject remains to-day practically an insurmountable 
barrier between Christian and pagan. All doubt as to the part west- 
ern disregard for ancestry played in bringing on the Boxer crisis 
of 1900 will be set at rest by reviewing the Chinese declaration of 
neutrality at the outbreak of the Japanese-Russian war. 

SACRED TOMBS AT MUKDEN TO BE RESPECTED. 

To the people of the Occident the Chinese government's solemn an- 
nouncement that it would agree to remain neutral on condition that 
the sanctity of the ancestral tombs at Mukden w^as respected by both 
Japan and Russia was simply a quaint sample of Orientalism. To 
the people of China, and to the reigning dynasty in particular, it was 
a highly important matter. In a country where ancestor w^orship pre- 
vails, the idea of making a diplomatic issue on such a question is 
by no means as fanciful as it appears to western minds. 

The urgency of the demand can be better understood when it is 
remembered that the entire country surrounding Mukden is insepara- 
bly associated with the history of the reigning dynasty, and in Man- 
chu eyes is especially holy. China, as has been pointed out, is ruled, 
not by Chinese, but by men of Tartar descent — the Manchus — who 
until the seventeenth century occupied the northeastern part of the 
present empire. The present Emperor of China belongs to a dynasty 
which is traceable back to 1559, when a leader of his race arose to 
power and gave his fellow tribesmen the name of Manchu, which 
means "pure." When this tribe overran its boundaries in 1644 and 
waged war upon the Chinese, it seized and established a throne at 
Pckin, but it lost nothing of its traditional reverence for the tombs 
and holy cities left behind. Mukden itself, for instance, is closely 
associated with Nurhachu, who, according to Manchu history, was 



THE BOXER UPRISING. 425 

himself seventh In descent from Aisin Gioro Bukuli, the personage 
who is said to have owed his birth to a miracle and is the putative 
founder of the present dynasty. 

TRADITIONS IMPORTANT TO-DAY. 

These traditions, centuries old, are quite as much realities to the 
Manchu or Chinaman of to-day as any question of trade rights or 
commercial interests. They asserted themselves during the Boxer 
troubles and again at the time when the railway v/as constructed 
through Mukden, when the Manchu officials objected vigorously on 
the ground that the spikes in the railway ties would break the back- 
bone of the dragon which is supposed to encircle the holy city. The 
tangible revival of the superstitions during the Japo-Russian war 
imparted a bizarre interest to the struggle by which east and west, 
Europe and Asia, were brought into conflict. 

MISSIONARIES CHARGED WITH BEWITCHING CHILDREN. 

Reverting from this digression to the Boxer himself, we find that 
serious anti-Christian disturbances began in 1891, when missionaries 
were charged with bewitching children. Missions were plundered, 
murders committed, and finally a number of German priests were 
slain. This was followed by the seizure of the port of Tsin Tau 
by the Germans. From that time on dates the Chinese fear that 
they and their land were considered the natural field for plunder by all 
the world. The Boxers, sworn to vengeance upon all foreigners and 
Christians, and buoyed up by religious fanaticism and the belief that 
they were proof against all firearms and that nothing could stand 
against their swords and incantations, gathered thousands of adher- 
ents. Slowly a reign of terror spread throughout the vast empire, 
accompanied by pillage, arson, murder and indescribable cruelties. 

DOWAGER EMPRESS AND OFFICIALS AIDED BOXERS. 

High Chinese officials were divided on the question of supporting 
or suppressing the Boxers. In October of 1899 an army was sent 



426 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

against the Boxers. It defeated and scattered them. The leaders of 
this army were disciphned for having attacked and massacred "a con- 
gregation of honest country folk." This encouragement precipitated 
a reign of anarchy that spread throughout the great empire and con- 
tinued until the foreigners at Pekin, the seat of government, were 
besieged in the legation enclosures, the Chinese court had taken flight 
to the interior and railroads and everything else of an Occidental 
nature had been destroyed. No ground for doubt exists as to the 
secret encouragement given the Boxers by the Dowager Empress, 
yet so skillfully did Chinese diplomacy operate in the crisis that after 
the armies of the allies had marched upon and taken Pekin the Chi- 
nese court was reinstated with little loss of prestige beyond that due 
to knowledge of sanctified palaces and temples desecrated by foreign 
soldiers, adventurers and treasure-seekers and enormous indemnities 
to be paid. 

UNITED STATES SAVES CHINA. 

It is a matter of particular interest at this time that American, Jap- 
anese and Russian troops marched almost side by side during that 
campaign, and that it was the United States, traditionally China's 
friend, that saved the ancient empire from division among the 
greedy nations as the spoils of war. To be true, some of the powers 
dealt sharply with China in the matter of indemnity, particularly 
Russia, iDut the entity of the empire remained through the good offices 
of the United States. 

ALLIES PROVE VICTORS. 

The campaign of the allies and the historic march of the armies of 
half a dozen powers upon Tien Tsin and Pekin, to the relief of the 
besieged embassies, are of too recent occurrence to require detailed 
treatment here. Hordes of Chinese, equipped only with superstition, 
antiquated weapons and a hatred born of injustice and fear, could 
never hope to prevail against even a small army of modern, scien- 
tifically equipped soldiery. Mere numbers have never prevailed 
against superior intelligence and military equipment. They did not 



THE BOXER UPRISING. 427 

on that occasion ; and so the capital and sacred palaces fell, the refu- 
gees were rescued and the Boxer movement collapsed, leaving poor 
old China to pay the bill entailed by the futile demonstration. 

The Boxer and the Boxer spirit may remain, but they are hidden in 
the secret places, marveling at the injustice that rules the world and 
the blunders of their strange gods in permitting the hated, despised and 
greedy barbarian to overcome the long-suffering and patient, illus- 
trious and chosen people. 

CHINESE VIEW OF FOREIGN INVASION. 

The popular Chinese view of the foreigner who is flocking to the 
land, securing all the valuable concessions, cutting up the country 
with railroads, upsetting tradition, threatening the extinction of an- 
cient customs and looming up as a possible future ruler, is expressed 
in the following excerpts from a pamphlet given wide circulation be- 
fore the Boxer uprising : 

"Their religion is such as China never had, and is antagonistic to 
the doctrine of the sages, such as family relations, the laws of benev- 
olence and righteousness. In this regard these religions are inferior 
to Buddhism and Taoism. Western sciences have their ancient root 
in Chinese principles, which have been stolen and shrewdly expanded. 
As to Occidentals, their chaos has just begun to dissolve and their 
savagery has not yet changed. They have no loyalty, no family rules, 
no true principles of sexual relations, no literature, and no truly civi- 
lized society. Because their land is narrow, they have come to us 
searching the limits of our land for their own gain. In the matter 
of skilful search into the secrets of the earth they are shrewder than 
we, but they do this simply for gain, and are barbarians still, with all 
their industrial skill. They seek only gain from our country; they 
aim to deceive our people, to surround our land, to disturb our na- 
tional laws and customs." 

Well? 

It all depends, after all, on how one looks at things. 




UNCLE SAM (IN THE DISTANCE) — "IT LOOKS AS IF THE WHOLE BUNCH V/AS GOING 

DOWN TOGETHER." 

Di-awu by Cartooni.st Maybell, of the Brooklyn Eagle. 

They are all ou slippery Ice aud if one slips, all fall. Although Uncle Sam keeps away from the 
dangerous situation, he is interested in the outcome. 




CHAPTER XXXIV. 
MYSTERIOUS TIBET, THE FORBIDDEN LAND. 

A Land of Wandering Shepherds — Viewed from an English Standpoint — Lofty 
Mountain Ranges and Salt Lakes— One-Third Lamas, Two-Thirds Common 
People— The Lamas Oppose Foreigners— Their Widespread Suspicion. 

'HE British expedition sent from India into Tibet under the 
command of Col. Younghusband, to offset Russian influence, 
attracted much public attention, partly because Tibet had 
been a country closed to white travelers, and consequently very little 
was known about it, and partly because great secrecy had been main- 
tained about this latest expedition, so fraught with the possibility of 
international complications. 

A LAND OF WANDERING SHEPHERDS. 

In 1894, W. A. L. Fletcher, the English writer, accompanied the 
St. George Littledale expedition into Tibet. The object was, if pos- 
sible, to reach Lhassa. That, however, the Lhassa authorities pre- 
vented, but they failed to stop the expedition until it had arrived 
at a point forty-eight miles north of the capital. The journey cov- 
ered about 1,700 miles of Tibet. The party entered Tibet from 
the north, starting from a small village called Cherchen, which is 
almost due north of Lhassa. They traveled due south until within 
forty-eight miles of that town. From that point they were obliged 
to retrace their steps twelve days, and then go due west into Ladak. 

They entered the country on April 16, traveling through uninhabited 

429 



430 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

territory until June 26. On that day at latitude ^t^ degrees 12 min- 
utes north, and longitude 88 degrees 12 minutes east, they first saw 
the inhabitants of the country. From then onward they saw men, or 
signs of them, every day; but they were all wandering shepherds, 
who in winter take their flocks to lower ground, south of the Ninchen 
Tangla range, which lies about ninety miles north of Lhassa, and 
they only come up north during the summer months. 

VIEWED FROM AN ENGLISH STANDPOINT. 

Writing of this tour of inquiry into the Forbidden Land, Mr. 
Fletcher has given the world this decidedly English view of Tibet, 
the scene of diplomatic strife between China, England and Russia, 
and perhaps the theater of another great war as the result of the 
efforts of Briton and Russ to vvrest Tibet from the nominal control 
of China. 

LOFTY MOUNTAIN RANGES AND SALT LAKES. 

"The north of Tibet is barren, uninhabited, and unmapped, inter- 
sected by vast mountain ranges running east and v/est. The highest 
which we crossed was the Ninchen Tangla, ninety miles north of 
Lhassa. The height of the pass, named the Goring La, vv^as 19,587 
feet above the level of the sea. Owing to the complete absence of 
roads, in the northern part at any rate, all baggage and impedimenta 
must be carried on the backs of animals. Yak are chiefly used for 
that purpose, and are especially good in Tibet, where the altitude is 
so great. 

METHODS OF TRAVEL. 

"The yak is indigenous to the country, and never is found in a. 
wild state, except at great altitudes. He can carry from 160 to 240 
pounds, but since the Tibetans do not shoe them, they are subject to 
sore feet and are unable to go long distances day after day. Horses, 
mules and sheep are used as pack animals. The latter carry from 
20 to 30 pounds. 

"We saw great flocks of sheep in charge of very few men, carrying 



TIBET, THE FORBIDDEN LAND. 431 

salt. The salt they collect on the shores of the large lakes, the water 
of which is absolutely undrinkable. At a distance the shores of these 
lakes look as if they were covered with ice and snow, but on inspec- 
tion they are found to be covered with salt. Most of the lakes show 
distinct signs that at some time or other they were much larger 
than they are now. In some instances we could trace on the mountain 
sides the old water level, some 100 feet or more above the present 
water level. 

FREE FROM FOREIGN INVASION. 

"Tibet being one of the few countries in the world v/hich have 
been able to keep the European out of its capital, the question is fre- 
quently asked, why and how do they manage to do it? The reasons 
the Lamas gave to us were based purely on religious grounds. They 
frequently declared that 'no one of your religion is allovv^ed in Tibet.' 

ONE-THIRD LAMAS, TVv^O-THIRDS COMMON PEOPLE. 

"About one-third of the population are Lamas, who are supported 
by the remaining two-thirds of the population. The head Lamas, 
being woefully ignorant of the outside world, have a great belief in 
the power of Tibet as a nation; but, at the same time, I believe 
they quite appreciate the fact that the process we call civilization 
develops in the follov/ing order : First comes the explorer, then the 
missionary, and last, but not least, comes the army, with civilization 
in due course behind it. The Lamas understood that, with the advent 
of civilization, the' laymen in the country will realize that there are 
other objects in life besides and even beyond Lamas ; and, naturally, 
from their point of view, the Lamas have no desire that the minds 
of the laymen should thus be widened, for when that takes place the 
Lamas will find that their worldly supplies will gradually be lessened. 

THE LAMAS OPPOSE FOREIGNERS. 

"The remainder of the population would, I believe, welcome any 
change, and would be quite ready to allow Europeans to come and 
go at will. As things are at present, however, they dare not help any 



432 THE GREAT WAR IN THE EAST. 

European traveler with food or information, under tlie penalty of 
losing their heads. The Tibetan by himself we found a very nice 
fellow, and quite ready to help us as, far as he dared ; but on the 
arrival of any of the Lamas, or kushoks, the latter being officials, he 
withdrew into his shell at once. 

"The kushoks receive no pay with their appointment, but have, on 
the contrary, to make large presents, in the form of sheep or yak, to 
the man who gave them the post. It is quite needless to remark that 
under these circumstances »they make what they can out of the natives. 

WIDESPREAD SUSPICION OF THE LAMAS. 

"During the time we were among the natives we bought a large 
amount of stores and some fifty horses, for all of which we paid very 
high prices. Unfortunately, we had to pay the money to the Lamas, 
and we had every reason to believe that the owners received very lit- 
tle, if any, of the money. The Lamas look with great suspicion upon 
each other's integrity — so much so, that v/e were never allowed to see 
any one individual of the three head Lamas with whom we were 
negotiating unless the other two were present. They have also a 
very wholesome dread of poison. It is an understood custom in the 
country for the host to partake first of any refreshment before offer- 
ing it to his guest. They were quite surprised when told that in 
Europe poisoning v/as looked upon as one of the most horrible of 
crimes. In spite of these failings, they say a great many prayers dur- 
ing the day. 






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